Politics & Government

SCLC Co-Founder, Civil Rights Icon Fred Shuttlesworth Dies at 89

Though not as well-known as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other high-profile civil rights leaders, the Birmingham-based powerhouse was a key force in the United States civil rights movement.

On the eve of celebrating the 90th birthday of this community's own civil rights legend, , another lion in the movement died at age 89 in Birmingham, according to relatives and hospital officials.

The Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth—a survivor of two major bombings, mob attacks and a hosing that left him with chest injuries—was known among  civil rights foot soldiers in Cascade Heights and beyond as one of the most influential civil rights leaders of his time.

An organizer or figure in most of the major Birmingham marches and demonstrations of the 1950s and 1960s, Shuttlesworth was one of the founders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in the late 1950s along with Lowery, King and the Rev. Ralph David Abernathy.

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, I interviewed and met with Shuttlesworth several times (see news clips here) and was overwhelmed by his stately demeanor.

In May 22, 2002, in an interview in Birmingham, where many credit him with desegregating the city, Shuttlesworth shunned claims that the hard work he and other civil rights workers did in the Alabama city was overlooked because of the media attention given to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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"King brought attention to the civil rights movement," Shuttlesworth said that day. "I don't want to take anything from him, because God had chosen him to be the spokesman."

As residents of southwest Atlanta—now a major "cradle" of the old guard civil rights workers, lieutenants and icons such as Lowery—we should pause to remember Shuttlesworth and honor Lowery for all they have done for equality in the United States.

Thank you, Reverends Shuttlesworth and Lowery, for paving the way.


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