Kyles used his position in the community to be a champion of civil rights for Black people in Memphis and across the Deep South. He was instrumental in helping organize bus integration in his adopted city, and supported the efforts of Dr. King in representing low-wage sanitation workers there as well.
When Rev. Ralph Abernathy died in 1990, Kyles became the last living person that was on the Lorraine Motel balcony that fateful day. According to one account, King was supposed to be a dinner guest of Kyles that evening, which was why the reverend was there to meet the iconic leader.
When the zenith of the Civil Rights Movement began to crest, Kyles moved into other forms of public work including serving as a director for Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Push organization, serving on Rev. Jackson’s campaign teams for his two presidential runs.
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Little Known Black History Fact: Rev. Samuel “Billy” Kyles was originally published on blackamericaweb.com
