A01607 - John Perkins, Minister and Civil Rights Activist

 John M. Perkins (b. June 16, 1930, New Hebron, Mississippi).  An American Christian minister, civil rights activist, Bible teacher, best-selling author, philosopher and community developer. He is the founder and President Emeritus of the John & Vera Mae Perkins Foundation with his wife, Vera Mae Perkins (also known as "Grandma Perkins"). He is co-founder of the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA).  He is the author of 17 books, including the best-selling One Blood: Parting Words to the Church on Race. 

John M. Perkins was born in 1930 in New Hebron, Mississippi. His mother died of pellagra when he was just seven months old. Abandoned by his father, Perkins was raised by his grandmother and extended family, who worked as sharecroppers. He dropped out of school in third grade. In 1947, he moved away from Mississippi at the urging of his family, who worried that he might be in danger following the fatal shooting of his brother, Clyde, by a police officer. 

Perkins settled in southern California. In June 1951, Perkins married Vera Mae Buckley. Earlier that year, he had been drafted into the United States Armed Forces. Perkins served in Okinawa during the Korean War. In 1957, Perkins' son, Spencer, invited him to church and Perkins converted to Christianity.

In 1960, Perkins moved with his wife and children from California to Mendenhall, Mississippi, which neighbors his childhood hometown of New Hebron. There, in 1964, he established Voice of Calvary Bible Institute.

In Mendenhall, Vera Mae started running a day-care center from their home that from 1966 to 1968 became part of the federally funded Head Start Program.

In 1965, Perkins supported voter registration efforts in Simpson County, and in 1967 he became involved in school desegregation when he enrolled his son Spencer in the previously all-white Mendenhall High School.

In the fall of 1969, Perkins became the leader in an economic boycott of white-owned stores in Mendenhall. On February 7, 1970, following the arrest of students who had taken part in a protest march in Mendenhall, Perkins was arrested and tortured by white police officers in Brandon Jail.

In 1976, Perkins published a book, A Quiet Revolution: The Christian response to human need, a strategy for today, which outlined his religious philosophy, revolving around the "three Rs" — relocation, redistribution and reconciliation.

By the mid-seventies, the Voice of Calvary, Jackson and Mendenhall Ministries were operating thrift stores, health clinics, a housing cooperative, and classes in Bible and theology. Perkins was in demand as a speaker in evangelical churches, colleges, and conventions across the country.

In 1982, the Perkins left Voice of Calvary Ministries to return to California, where they founded Harambee Christian Family Center, now called Harambee Ministries, in northwest Pasadena. 

In 1989, Perkins founded the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA), a network of evangelical congregations and organizations working in deprived urban settings. CCDA sought to invite evangelicals into social justice and civil rights.

After the death of his son Spencer in 1998, Perkins established the Spencer Perkins Center, the youth arm of the John M. Perkins Foundation. It developed youth programs such as After School Tutoring, Summer Arts Camp, Junior and College Internship Program, Good News Bible Club, Young Life and Jubilee Youth Garden. The foundation also had a housing arm, Zechariah 8, providing affordable housing for low-to-moderate-income families, with a focus on single mothers.

On September 17, 2016, Perkins became President Emeritus of the John & Vera Mae Perkins Foundation as his three daughters, Elizabeth, Priscilla, and Deborah Perkins, became co-presidents of the organization.