Civil Rights Hero Fred L. Shuttlesworth Dead at 89
Civil Rights Hero Fred L. Shuttlesworth Dead at 89
Civil Rights icon Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth has died at the age of 89.
As pastor of the Bethel Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, Rev. Shuttlesworth was a warrior for Civil Rights, surviving bombings, beatings and multiple arrests.
His life and work inspired countless others, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. himself who, according to theGrio.com, referred to Shuttlesworth as, “one of the nation’s most courageous freedom fighters … a wiry, energetic and indomitable man.”
TheGrio.com has written a phenomenal obituary for Rev. Shuttlesworth.
An excerpt:
“He survived a 1956 bombing, an assault during a 1957 demonstration, chest injuries when Birmingham authorities turned fire hoses on demonstrators in 1963, and countless arrests.
‘I went to jail 30 or 40 times, not for fighting or stealing or drugs,’ Shuttlesworth told grade school students in 1997. ‘I went to jail for a good thing, trying to make a difference.’”
Check out TheGrio’s “Civil rights icon Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth dead at 89” to learn more about this remarkable man.
R.I.P. Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth