Fred Shuttlesworth: 1922-2011
In the midst of the endless tweets and posts about the untimely passing of Steve Jobs, it's easy to overlook the fact that another pioneer died yesterday. And while he had no impact on how you communicate, if you live in the United States, he had a profound impact on your society. Which makes it that much more depressing that few Americans outside of Alabama know his name.
Fred Shuttlesworth was one of the fiercest voices in the Civil Rights Movement. A minister from Birmingham, he routinely went toe-to-toe with the racist public safety commissioner Bull Connor, a man determined to keep segregation alive even after the tide of public sentiment had turned against it and willing to employ violent thugs from the Ku Klux Klan to achieve those ends. It was Shuttlesworth who demanded Martin Luther King bring his publicity machine to Birmingham, and together they were co-founders of Southern Christian Leadership Conference. In 1963, he organized a peaceful march through downtown Birmingham and was arrested for failing to first secure a parade permit. He fought his conviction all the way to the Supreme Court. And won.
Shuttlesworth is widely regarded as the most fearless soldier in the fight against segregation, and no matter how many attempts were made on his life, he never faltered. In 1956, sixteen sticks of dynamite were detonated beneath his bedroom window. He survived. In 1957, he was attacked by a group of Klansmen, who beat him with brass knuckles and chains, and stabbed him. He survived. In 1958, someone planted a bomb in his church, but it was noticed by a church member and moved to the street before it went off. At no point did Shuttlesworth back down, nor did he waver from his commitment to nonviolence.
He once said he would "kill segregation or be killed by it." All Americans should consider themselves fortunate that it was Shuttlesworth who emerged victorious in that battle. And none of us should forget him.
