By Michaela Gordoni
Renowned justice activist, Dr. John M. Perkins, passed away of Alzheimer’s and dementia on March 13.
He was a minister, ground shaker and friend of Movieguide®.
Perkins was born in 1930 in Mississippi and lost his mother to malnutrition when he was 7 months old. A year later, his father abandoned the family. At age 17, he held his older brother, a decorated veteran of World War II, as he passed from fatal bullet wounds — shot by a racist town marshal.
He protested for civil rights in 1970. He and 19 black Tougaloo College students were brutally tortured and nearly beaten to death after they were jailed.
“I had learned to hate all the white people in Mississippi,” he wrote in his book, One Blood. “I hated their control over our lives…If I had not met Jesus, I would have died carrying that heavy burden of hate to my grave.”
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“It would have been the easiest thing in the world for me to answer hate with hate. But God had another plan for my life, a redemptive plan. Jesus saved me…He saved me from what could have easily become a life of hatred and resentment,” Perkins said.
Perkins forgave the officers who tortured him and eventually transformed ministry in the south. In Jackson, Mississippi, he started a church, a day care, a health center, a thrift store and programs for youth sports, housing cooperatives, leadership training, legal assistance and adult education.
“People were asking the question, How do we take this precious gospel to the poor without dehumanizing them and without making a free handout?” said the Rev. Dolphus Weary, who succeeded Mr. Perkins in running the ministry. “John Perkins gave people the concept of how to do that.”
In the forward of Thaddeaus Willimas’ Confronting Injustice without Compromising Truth, Perkins shared four important things that shaped his ministry: 1. Start with God, 2. Be one in Christ, 3. Preach the gospel and 4. Teach Truth.
He believed you had to align yourself with God’s will and understand that everyone — no matter their status or skin color — is a child of God. Political agenda doesn’t matter, but how God sees us does. And without truth, justice can’t exist, and God’s word is truth.
Before Perkins died, he told Williams, “I’m living at the doorway of heaven…aware that any day could be my last. Joy is all around me. My heart overflows with gratitude for this joy.”
“It has not diminished over time. It grows more radiant each and every day, with the promise of heaven set before me,” he said.
He referenced the hymn, “O I Want to See Him:”
Oh, I want to see Him, look upon His face,
There to sing forever of His saving grace;
On the streets of Glory let me lift my voice,
Cares all past, home at last, ever to rejoice.
“Oh, I want to see Him. I am almost there,” he said. “I can almost see his face. And He is Joy!”
Now, Perkins is surely looking upon Jesus and rejoicing.
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