Nathaniel Colley Presidential Advisor Civil Rights Icon Nathaniel Sextus Colley 19181992 was Sacramentos first Black attorney and a prominent civil rights leader. Graduating with honors from Yale Law School he filed and won many of the first lawsuits to prevent discrimination in housing education and employment and led the successful effort to overturn a California initiative adopted in 1964 that allowed racial and ethnic discrimination in the sale or rental of housing. Colley also served as an advisor to President John F. Kennedy contributed to the passage of the 1968 Federal Fair Housing Act during the administration of President Lyndon Johnson and held notable positions such as the first Black member of the California State Board of Education and Chairman of the California Horse Racing Commission.