TBA Law Blog

TBA Law Blog

Civil Rights Leader Rev. James Netters Dies in Memphis at 93

Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Dec 14, 2020
News Type: Passages

Rev. James Netters, civil rights leader, pastor and one of the first Black members of the Memphis City Council, has died at age 93. His death was announced yesterday by Mt. Vernon Baptist Church in Westwood, where he served as pastor for more than 60 years. Netters began his decades-long work of advancing civil rights after he attended the March on Washington in 1963. Inspired by national civil rights leaders, Netters returned to Memphis and started a bus boycott, working with Rev. Billy Kyles to ultimately integrate the city bus system. As a city councilman, Netters marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in support of the city’s sanitation workers' strike in 1968. King was in town for the event when he was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel. Netters frequently spoke to lawyers about the civil rights movement in Memphis. The Commercial Appeal and U.S. News have more on his life.

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