Fred Shuttlesworth dies at the age of 89 years
October 6th, 2011 - 12:29 am ICT by Aishwarya BhattBeverly Hills, Oct 5 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Civil rights activist Fred Shuttlesworth has passed away at the age of 89. Shuttlesworth was an iconic rights activist who survived several assassination attempts and abuse in the violent years of the 1960s.
Shuttlesworth became a preacher in 1953 after he studied religion part time. He was originally a truck driver and his fight for equal rights in the United States earned him a commendation from Martin Luther King Jr.
In one of his interviews, Shuttlesworth said that, “My church was a beehive I made the movement. I made the challenge. Birmingham was the citadel of segregation, and the people wanted to march.”
He escaped a bomb blast in 1956 and was later beaten by authorities for taking part in a demonstration in 1957. He was arrested and detained on several occasions during the 1960 struggle for racial equality. His efforts in the equality fight earned him a recognition by King. Writing about Shuttlesworth in the 1963 book “Why We Can’t Wait,” King said that, he “is of the nation’s the most courageous freedom fighters … a wiry, energetic and indomitable man.”
Spokesperson of the Princeton Baptist Medical Center told reporters that Shttlesworth died on Wednesday morning at the Birmingham hospital.
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