James Perkins, Jr., made history in 2000 when he became mayor of Selma, Alabama, marking a turning point in the city's long history of racism. Perkins was born to Etta and James Per-kins, Sr. in Selma, Alabama. He grew up in a time when segregation was law in the South. However, he also grew up during a time when change was beginning. He was not yet ten when the Selma march occurred. By the time Perkins entered high school, integration laws had passed, and he joined the first group of black children to enter the newly formed Selma High School, after the two high schools, A.G. Parish and R.B Hudson, were merged, bringing black and white students together for the first time. He was also among the first graduating class from Selma High School.
Perkins continued his education at historically black college, Alabama A&M in Huntsville, Alabama. He joined the Caterpillar Tractor Company as a computer programmer and later as a systems analyst. He left Caterpillar and joined the Martin Marietta Corporation as a project manager. In 1980 Perkins returned to Selma to begin his own computer consulting firm, Business Ventures, Inc. He also studied business administration at Auburn University in Selma.
Perkins and his wife, Cynthia, began to raise their four children in his hometown. Things were dire in Selma. Advancement for blacks crept along, despite two-thirds of Selma's 20,000 residents being African American. To Perkins, it was time for things to change. A number of others agreed. Frederick Reese, a life-long activist ran for the office of mayor in 1984. Perkins served as his campaign manager. Although Reese lost the election, Perkins remained committed to political advocacy, involving himself more and more.
Perkins' first years as mayor were not without difficulty. Months following his election, during a march to celebrate Martin Luther King Day, marchers tried to take down a statue that honored a Confederate soldier who was also a founder of the Ku Klux Klan.
As he worked to improve relations between Selma's black and white residents, as well as to bring some much-needed jobs to the area, James Perkins showed himself to be an indomitable leader who used all his strength and ingenuity to complete the tasks set before him.
