It isn’t often that a man gets to meet one of his boyhood heroes. I grew up in the racially segregated South of the mid 20th century. For me, an African American, segregation was a fact of life. We went to different schools from whites, drank from different water fountains and sat in the back of the bus. I suppose I accepted it-that was the way it always had been; the way it always would be.

But in a tense summer, nearly 50 years ago, we sensed that a change was in the air. A nonviolent campaign against segregation had begun to gather momentum. Three names dominated the news. They were Martin Luther King, Ralph Abernathy and Fred Shuttlesworth. King and Abernathy are both dead now. But Fred Shuttlesworth is alive and well in semi-retirement in Cincinnati. So when my friend, Pastor George Hart, asked me if I would like to meet him, I jumped at the chance.

Fred Shuttlesworth, age 85, is not as well-known as some of the other leaders of the civil rights movement. As a young man he was aggressive and passionate, and he espoused the nonviolent agenda of his compatriots-he was proactively nonviolent in advancing the cause at every opportunity. As I sat and talked with this elderly gentleman in the sanctuary of the Greater New Light Baptist Church, which he founded in Cincinnati, I could still feel the passion and energy that drove him to face police batons, savage dogs and angry mobs in those desperate times.

Fred Shuttlesworth was born in Alabama on March 18, 1922. After graduating from Selma University in 1951 and Alabama State College in 1952, he became pastor of the Bethel Baptist Church in 1953. In May 1956, Shuttlesworth established the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR). In December 1956, the Supreme Court ruled that bus segregation in Montgomery was illegal. Immediately, Shuttlesworth announced that the ACMHR would test segregation laws in Birmingham.

In 1957 Shuttlesworth joined Martin Luther King, Ralph David Abernathy and Bayard Rustin to form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Based in Atlanta, Georgia, the main objective of the SCLC was to coordinate and assist local organizations working for the full equality of African-Americans. The new organization was committed to using nonviolence in the struggle for civil rights, and adopted the motto: “Not one hair of one head of one person should be harmed.”

Fred Shuttleworth’s enemies did not share the nonviolent agenda. On the evening of December 25, 1956, 16 sticks of dynamite destroyed his house, even shredding the mattress of the bed he was lying on. Miraculously, he survived. The following year a white mob beat him with whips and chains during an attempt to integrate an all-white public school. During this period Martin Luther King described Shuttlesworth as “the most courageous civil rights fighter in the South.”

I asked him if, looking back, he would do anything differently. “I would not leave anything out,” he said without hesitation. “Including the beatings and the bombing. I never felt more safe and secure. I could hear God saying, ‘I’m here; be still and know that I am God.’”

It was obvious talking to this dignified man that he is still an uncompromising, Christ-centered and Scripture-focused leader. He is still concerned and involved with civil rights. He told me that the movement needed to find its way again. “There is too much money involved,” he said. “We need to find humble, Christ-centered leadership that characterized the movement in the past.”

As we talked, I reflected on how much people like me owe to the courage and faith of people like Fred Shuttleworth. As he was getting his head beaten in, blown out of his bed and arrested 38 times, I was in the “safe haven” of grade school. Even then I admired his raw courage and dogged tenacity as he taught us not to hate anybody, although my friends and I did not always succeed in living up to this ideal. Given half a chance, though, I would have been out there working alongside him.

Thousands of grade school and college students did march, even elementary students, especially those who lived in and around Birmingham. They were arrested, beaten, attacked by police dogs and knocked down by water hoses. They were fighting, even sacrificing their lives for racial equality and human dignity, to not be called the “N” word by state officials, for the right to a good education, access to job opportunities, for enfranchisement and basic civil rights, such as defending our families, eating in a restaurant, using a public restroom or riding on a bus.

Our educational resources were severely limited. Most black schools were supplied with the used books that white schools were finished with. But armed with courage inspired in large part from heroes like Fred Shuttlesworth, I graduated in 1963 from Sunshine High School in Newbern, Alabama, as valedictorian. Even so, no scholarships were available. They were for the white schools down the road. Later I moved to New York, where I had relatives. I worked and attended night school. Then I got married and moved with my wife, Jannice, to California and attended college. We have been tremendously blessed over the years, pastoring churches and traveling internationally. Our children both graduated from college and are married. Our daughter Angela is a CPA and real estate agent. Our son Bradley is a police officer in flight operations. They both have healthy relationships across racial and ethnic lines.

Fred Shuttlesworth’s life shows that we can change things. Sometimes the task may seem impossible. There are days when we might even seem to be losing ground. But I believe to work for justice and understanding is part of every Christian’s responsibility, and Fred Shuttlesworth showed how faith, hope and clarity of vision will eventually win the day. He reminded me that the struggle is not over. America may be a freer, less racist place than it was 50 years ago, although there are still pockets of ignorance and prejudice on all sides. But there are still too many places in our world where the struggle against prejudice is still in its early stages. In some, it has not even begun.

I thought about this as I talked with the brave, dignified old man in Cincinnati. How different my life might have been if he and people like him had not had the courage to say, “Enough is enough.”

Fred Shuttlesworth was born in Alabama on 18th March, 1922. After graduating from Selma University (1951) and Alabama State College (1952), Shuttlesworth became pastor of the Bethel Baptist Church in 1953.

In May 1956 Shuttlesworth established the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR). In December, 1956, the Supreme Court ruled that bus segregation in Montgomery was illegal. Immediately, Shuttlesworth announced that the ACMHR would test segregation laws in Birmingham. On Christmas Day, 1956, Shuttlesworth home was bombed but he escaped unhurt.

In 1957 Shuttlesworth joined Martin Luther King, Ralph David Abernathy and Bayard Rustin to form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Based in Atlanta, Georgia, the main objective of the SCLC was to coordinate and assist local organizations working for the full equality of African Americans. The new organization was committed to using nonviolence in the struggle for civil rights, and SCLC adopted the motto: “Not one hair of one head of one person should be harmed.”

Shuttlesworth’s civil rights activities made him a target of white racists and on the evening of 25th December, 1956, Shuttlesworth survived a bomb blast that destroyed his house. The following year a white mob beat Shuttlesworth with whips and chains during an attempt to integrate an all-white public school. During this period Martin Luther King described Shuttlesworth as “the most courageous civil rights fighter in the South”.

In 1960 Shuttlesworth participated in the sit-in protests against segregated lunch counters and in 1961 helped Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) organize its Freedom Rides. He also led the mass demonstrations against segregation in Birmingham and this resulted in him being hospitalized in May, 1963, after being slammed against a wall by water from fire hoses.

In 1966 Shuttlesworth became pastor of the Greater New Light Baptist Church. He has also served as director of the Shuttlesworth Housing Foundation, an organization which helps low-income families to buy their own homes, that he established in 1988.

Shuttlesworth still works at the Greater New Light Baptist Church and so far his Shuttlesworth Housing Foundation has assisted 460 low-income families.

Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth visited Christ Community Church on Sunday and then we had him over to our home afterwards for a reception. Really a wonderful and inspiring occasion as he recounted a number of stories (testimonies) of how God spared him through bombings, beatings, jailings (38 times), etc. I think I was most impressed with the depth of his faith and Christ centeredness. You can see that his passion for justice and civil rights flows out of and is an extension of his relationship with Christ. Really a humble man that God has used in a powerful way, and he continually gives any glory to God. He was only able to do what he did because he knew it was what God called him to do and God was with him whether he survived any particular event or had died. As he said, when “Mr. God” calls you, you go.

I saw in him and heard in his message a “spirit” which is absent from the Civil Rights Movement today. He was very clear, that in his mind, the movement is different today. I believe what has been lost is a humility and total dependence upon Christ. Civil rights leaders today have politics, the law, media, etc. on their side to open doors and there may be less of a “need” for Christ to open doors. All they had back then was Christ and his full assurance that all men had been created to be free.

I realized this Sunday, in a profound way, that God has called certain people, and all of us in one way or the other, to lay down our lives for others. Just as Jesus laid down his life for us that we may be reconciled to God, God calls men and women to lay down their lives for the reconciliation of man to man. Someone “had” to be bruised, broken and bled for healing and reconciliation to come. Rev. Shuttlesworth jokingly said that God gave him a hard head to endure the beatings. I think that is the “spirit” that is missing today. Really it is the Spirit of Christ.

Really great to see how the young people were just drawn to him and his message. Several wanted to get their pictures taken with him. Quite a celebrity with the youth, but I think they were drawn to his grace and genuineness.

He didn’t leave our home until after 4:30pm. Truly a “red letter” day.

George Hart

Christ Community Church

Cincinnati, OH
Office Phone: 513-231-6104

My trip to Cincinnati on Memorial Day weekend (May 25-27) for an interview with Civil Rights Icon Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth was a great experience. When he was in his 30′s and I was a teen in high school, he sought school integration for his children. He was one of my heros. So it was a very special learning experience for me to help interview him-like talking to a history book.

We are both from Alabama. John Halford and George Hart led the interview and I asked questions and shared some of my experiences.

Rev. Shuttlesworth is well-known as a civil rights worker along with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was beaten many times, his house was bombed and he was thrown across the room on his mattress unharmed. The mattress’ springs basically crumbled underneath him. He was arrested about 38 times. ONE THING THAT COMES THROUGH LOUD AND CLEAR IS HIS CHRIST-CENTEREDNESS! He is now co-writing a book at age 85. It should be powerful.

The interview was more of a long “conversation” than a regular interview. This gave way to a lot of spontaneity. Our aim is to use some of it for future publication and audio tape for the church and ORM.

I gave the sermon on Sunday (Pentecost) in the congregation pastored by ORM Chapter Leader George Hart. Following the message and communion we had a lively Q&A session! The congregation is turned on and responsive. They have been very intentional in their reconciliation work. It shows. The Harts are well loved.

Just before I went up to give the sermon Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth and his wife Sapphira walked in. They stayed through the rest of the service and participated in part of the Q&A session. He had spoken in the congregation a few weeks previously.