Fred Shuttlesworth

Fred ShuttlesworthFool for Christ

Sunday, February 3, 13

At a January event at the Carter Center - Andrew

Young said Shuttlesworth was a Fool for Christ


Andrew Manis writes about the fire and passion of

Fred Shuttlesworth


Shuttlesworth built his reputation as a fiery preacher in Alabama


Shuttlesworth built his reputation as a fiery preacher in Alabama

He also got involved with the Freedom Riders and

other Civil Rights activities


The NAACP was banned in Alabama. Shuttlesworth

started his own organization, the Alabama

Christian Movement for Human Rights


The NAACP was banned in Alabama. Shuttlesworth

started his own organization, the Alabama

Christian Movement for Human Rights

The ACMHR started boycotts, like those that

were successful in Montgomery in 1956


Shuttlesworth and his family paid a tremendous price. His home was bombed several

times - once on Christmas in 1956


Shuttlesworth and his family paid a tremendous price. His home was bombed several

times - once on Christmas in 1956

Shuttlesworth emerged unscathed....convincing

him and his congregation that he was on a mission

ordained by God


Birmingham was called the most segregated city in

America in 1963


Jim Crow was alive and well


Bull Connor - police commissioner in

Birmingham - was a lame duck, accountable to no one. He was willing to do whatever it took to hold

onto segregation.


MLK and Shuttlesworth had an uneven

relationship. Despite their differences, there was always mutual respect.


The Civil Rights movement was stalled. The recent

Albany campaign was not a success.


Project C


Project C

1. Desegregation of downtown


Project C

1. Desegregation of downtown2. Adoption of fair hiring practices


Project C

1. Desegregation of downtown2. Adoption of fair hiring practices3. All charges from previous protests will be

dismissed


Project C


dismissed4. Equal employment opportunity in city

government


Project C



government5. Reopen on a desegregated all closed

recreational facilities


Project C




recreational facilities6. Establishment of a bi-racial committee to pursue

further desegregation.


Project C




recreational facilities6. Establishment of a bi-racial committee to pursue

further desegregation.

Project C- for Confrontation - was instituted by King, the SCLC and the ACMHR to change

Birmingham.


The initial demonstrators were adult churchgoers.


Shuttlesworth and King needed more protestors.

They turned, controversially, to children.


Children were arrested by the hundreds, and put into

jails or locked into gymnasiums.


Billy Graham called on MLK to "put a brakes on

the campaign."

Shuttlesworth angrily refused.


Bull Connor was desperate. He put attack dogs on the

demonstrators.

Images like this one were seen across the globe.


Shuttlesworth managed the troops at the ground level. Manis calls him a

"Patton to MLK's Eisenhower."


The images continued to horrify the nation.


Shuttlesworth and the SCLC kept up the

pressure with press conferences.


Shuttlesworth himself was hit by water cannons,

breaking ribs and putting him into the hospital.


With Shuttlesworth in the hospital, the SCLC called

off the demonstrations. The results were not

immediately seen as a success.


With Shuttlesworth in the hospital, the SCLC called

off the demonstrations. The results were not

immediately seen as a success.

Shuttlesworth was furious...convinced the demonstrations ended too soon.


Tragedies in Birmingham continued. The bombing of

Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was a few months later.


But Birmingham was a turning point. If the city

didn't immediately change, the country would never

be the same.


"The events in Birmingham and elsewhere have so increased

the cries for equality that no city or State or legislative body can

prudently choose to ignore them."


"The events in Birmingham and elsewhere have so increased

the cries for equality that no city or State or legislative body can

prudently choose to ignore them."

President Kennedy cited Birmingham as a key accelerator to what

became the Civil Rights Act of 1964.


Birmingham came to recognize Shuttlesworth,

with statues and even naming the airport in his

honor.


Shuttlesworth is one of the legends of the Civil Rights

movement.


Senator Obama pushed an ailing Shuttlesworth over

the Edmund Pettus bridge in 2008.


Shuttlesworth died the same day as Steve Jobs.

Shuttlesworth's death was perhaps underreported

that day.


Andrew Manis describes the concept of "fiery glad" - compared to "fiery mad." This approach looks disappointment, despair and death in the face...and declares that beyond all these, there is hope.

Fred Shuttlesworth was "fiery glad".


Fred Shuttlesworth

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