MEMPHIS, Tenn. — When it comes to being a leader and a foot soldier in the civil rights movement, history will likely remember Rev. Samuel “Billy” Kyles for leaving behind a larger than life imprint on Memphis and America.
Tennessee State Sen. Lee Harris of Memphis reflected on the life of Rev. Kyles.
“So, he was an icon here, no doubt about it. A change maker, somebody who led and didn’t follow,” Harris said.
Rev. Kyles, a Mississippi native, came to Memphis in 1959 to become the pastor of his former church, Monumental Baptist on South Parkway. Shortly there after, he became a civil rights activist in the community.
Tennessee State Sen. Brian Kelsey of Germantown said Kyles was an outstanding leader.
“Rev. Kyles was a real asset to this community. He was an asset to our country,” Kelsey.
Rev. Kyles was also a close friend of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Rev. Kyles was instrumental in bringing Dr. King to Memphis for a sanitation workers’ strike. On the night Dr. King was murdered, Rev. Kyles was hosting the Kings for dinner.
Beverly Robertson, the former president of the National Civil Rights Museum, talked to WREG about his legacy.
“Rev. Kyles was a great minister, a great leader. He was a history maker and historian,” Robertson said.
Rev. Kyles, who was on the balcony with Dr. King, was telling the civil rights leader to hurry up so they could leave the Lorraine Motel now the National Civil Rights Museum.
Moments later, Dr. King was shot and killed by an assassin’s bullet.
“What is so marvelous about what the museum gained from Rev. Kyles was they actually gained a first-person witness to what took place on the balcony and few historic institutions can claim that,” Robertson said.
The Reverend Samuel “Billy” Kyle, a husband, father, preacher and civil rights leader whose life and experiences will continue to touch Memphians and others around the world as stories about a man known as the witness are told throughout history.
“I think we all miss him whether we met him, having spent time with him in 1968 during Dr. King’s assassination, we have all been touched by the experiences and the narrative of Rev. Kyles,” Harris said.
“Reverend Kyles was a spiritual giant in our community,” Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell said in a statement. “He devoted his life to civil rights for the betterment of people everywhere. ”