DENVER — The funeral for prominent civil rights leader Reverend Dr. James D. Peters Jr., who died on Saturday, is scheduled for this coming weekend.
There's a viewing for Peters Friday night at 6 p.m. at New Hope Baptist Church, followed by a funeral service Saturday at 11 a.m.
Rev. Peters was the pastor emeritus of New Hope Baptist Church in Denver and took part in the March on Washington with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Peters was 92 years old.
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He was one of Dr. King’s lieutenants in the civil rights movement and even gave a speech at 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., where four African-American girls were killed in 1963 after white supremacists planted a bomb that exploded during their Sunday School class.
A local newspaper printed a portion of Peters’ speech, which read in part: “Segregation is like pregnancy,' reverend James peters said. 'The more it shows the sooner you’ll be delivered.'”
Peters preached and gave speeches alongside Dr. King more than 50 times. Peters was with Dr. King on the march from Selma, Ala., to Montgomery, Ala.
More recently, Rev. Peters delivered the invocation for Gov. Jared Polis in 2019.
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