Discourse that allows us to express a wide range of ideas, opinions, and analysis that can be used as an opportunity to critically examine and observe what our experience means to us beyond the given social/cultural contexts and norms that are provided us.
Thursday, January 10, 2019
The international BDS movement and the egregious political censorship of Angela Davis: Its ominous causes and consequences
All,
This utterly absurd and egregiously dishonest and perverse series of absolutely false statements about exactly who Angela Davis is and what she stands for--and has always stood for in her public political life--regarding the Israeli state vis-a-vis the Palestinian people both within Israel specifically and in the Gaza and West Bank territories generally is a brazenly transparent attempt to brutally censor and bully Ms. Davis into cowed silence on these very important issues regarding human rights in Israel and Palestine and to further pretend that her openly stated positions on these crucial questions are anti-semitic and defames the Israeli people and their general society. This is nothing but an outrageous LIE and has always been a lie on the given historical evidence
NEVER has Ms. Davis taken such a reactionary and oppressive position on Israel and/or the Jewish people generally, and anyone who has paid any attention at all to her actions and statements knows and understands this. Nor has her open support of the international BDS movement ever advocated, endorsed, supported, or defended anti-semitism, or the defamation of the Jewish people anywhere in the world in any form or context whatsoever. Thus the ludicrous notion that she should now be denied a much deserved public recognition of her historically courageous work on behalf of civil and human rights in her native city of Birminham, Alabama is not merely wrong or "misleading" but is absolutely morally and politically indefensible. The late great Fred Shuttlesworth (1922-2011) one of the finest, most important and most courageous civil rights leaders in the esteemed history of the movement (and an eloquent defender of Davis during his own life and career), must be roiling like a rotisserie in his grave at this moment.
To say that that we must all openly protest this ugly miscarriage of justice in the cowardly denial of the civil rights award should at this very late date go without saying. It is a measure of just how petty, stupid, phony, and manipulative the current corrupt, reactionary and fiercely rightwing forces within Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party in Israel and their many supporters throughout the world and especially here in the U.S. have been and continue to be whenever they are confronted with any principled and nonviolent criticism of their politics and policies regarding the Palestinians and their political, economic, social, and cultural status and fate within both Israel and Palestine.
So as far as Ms. Davis is concerned it is more important and necessary than ever that her personal, intellectual, and political integrity with respect to the BDS movement and the global struggle for the human and civil rights of ALL people generally be strongly defended and protected no matter what. This massive struggle needless to say includes not only a crucial ongoing critique of what is wrong and why but a strong and unambiguous protection of the specific human and civil rights and independence of both the Palestinian and Israeli people. Dig? Stay tuned...
Angela Davis Says She’s ‘Stunned’ After Award Is Revoked Over Her Views on Israel by Niraj Chokshi January 8, 2019 New York Times
The
civil rights activist and scholar Angela Davis speaking at the
University of Michigan-Flint in 2015. She is a supporter of the boycott,
divestment and sanctions movement, which seeks to apply economic
pressure to Israel in protest of its treatment of
Palestinians. CreditJake May/The Flint Journal, via Associated Press
Angela Davis, the activist and scholar, said this week that she was “stunned” after a civil rights group in her native Birmingham, Ala., reversed its decision to honor her with an award amid protests over her support for a boycott of Israel.
Professor Davis, once a global hero of the left who has since earned renown for her scholarship, had been selected for the human rights award months ago by the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, but the group’s board rescinded the honor on Friday.
In announcing the move, the institute did not offer an explanation, saying only that “she unfortunately does not meet all of the criteria on which the award is based.” But Professor Davis said in a statement on Facebook on Monday that she had learned it was because of her “long-term support of justice for Palestine.” The revocation of the award, she added, was “not primarily an attack against me but rather against the very spirit of the indivisibility of justice.”
In a statement expressing dismay at the controversy, Mayor Randall Woodfin of Birmingham said the decision had come amid “protests from our local Jewish community and some of its allies.”
The institute did say in its statement announcing the revocation that it had begun hearing from “concerned individuals and organizations” in late December, around the time the magazine Southern Jewish Life published a piece about the award by its editor, Larry Brook.
In it, he wrote that “for some in the community, there might be some indigestion” at the now-canceled February gala where Professor Davis, who retired from the University of California, Santa Cruz, in 2008, was slated to be honored.
Mr. Brook noted that Professor Davis has supported the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, known as B.D.S., which seeks to apply economic pressure to Israel until it ends the occupation of the West Bank, treats Palestinians equally under the law and allows the return of Palestinian refugees.
Many Israelis and their allies oppose the movement, viewing it as anti-Semitic and an existential threat to the country. Supporters, including Professor Davis, describe it as a necessary response to what amounts to modern-day apartheid.
Professor Davis, who has delivered that message on college campuses and elsewhere, has also joined prominent black celebrities and thinkers in comparing the struggles of Palestinians to those of African-Americans. Among those celebrities is the actor Danny Glover, who received the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute’s human rights award in 2003.
Israel and its allies have defended against the boycott movement around the world, including in the United States, where polls of young people show support growing for the Palestinian cause.
In recent years, more than a dozen states have passed laws to restrict contractors from boycotting Israel. Some of the laws are being challenged as violations of First Amendment rights.
In his statement, Mayor Woodfin called on the institute and those who opposed its decision to engage in dialogue.
The institute’s reversal provided “an opportunity to engage in conversation about how we work together to resolve our differences constructively and continue to move our community forward,” he said. “I would be pleased to facilitate and participate in any such conversation, now and in the future.”
In her statement, Professor Davis said her activism often involved the linking of movements around the world to those within the United States.
“I support Palestinian political prisoners just as I support current political prisoners in the Basque Country, in Catalunya, in India, and in other parts of the world,” she said. “I have indeed expressed opposition to policies and practices of the state of Israel, as I express similar opposition to U.S. support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine and to other discriminatory U.S. policies.”
Professor Davis became a global progressive leader nearly half a century ago. At the time, she was agitating on behalf of three California inmates accused of murdering a white prison guard when guns she had purchased were used in an attack that was aimed at freeing the inmates but left four people dead, including the assailant.
She was not present during the attack and witnesses testified that the guns were purchased for defense, but Professor Davis nonetheless spent 16 months in jail before an all-white jury acquitted her of all charges. In the interim, “Free Angela” had become a rallying cry.
Since then, she has been recognized for her scholarship and activism around feminism and against mass incarceration. Last year, a Harvard University library acquired her personal archive.
In her statement, Professor Davis said she planned to be in Birmingham next month regardless of the institute’s decision.
“I look forward to being in Birmingham in February for an alternative event organized by those who believe that the movement for civil rights in this moment must include a robust discussion of all of the injustices that surround us,” she said.
Related Coverage:
Boycott Drive Put Israel on a Blacklist. Now Israel Has One of Its Own. Jan. 7, 2018 Image Boycott Drive Put Israel on a Blacklist. Now Israel Has One of Its Own.
A New Home for Angela Davis’s Papers (and Her ‘Wanted’ Poster) Feb. 13, 2018 Image A New Home for Angela Davis’s Papers (and Her ‘Wanted’ Poster)
She Wouldn’t Promise Not to Boycott Israel, So a Texas School District Stopped Paying Her Dec. 19, 2018 Image She Wouldn’t Promise Not to Boycott Israel, So a Texas School District Stopped Paying Her
Shuttlesworth biographer: Fred would honor Angela Davis
The historian who
wrote a definitive biography of the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth said the
legendary firebrand preacher would have loved the idea of controversial
activist Angela Davis receiving the human rights award named in his
honor. (2007 photo/AP Dave Martin) (AP/Dave )
The historian who wrote a definitive
biography of the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth said the legendary firebrand
preacher from Birmingham would have loved the idea of controversial
activist Angela Davis, another Birmingham native, receiving the human
rights award named in his honor.
“I can’t even
imagine Fred Shuttlesworth hesitating for a moment to honor Angela Davis
this way,” said Andrew Manis, author of “A Fire You Can’t Put Out” and
professor of history at Middle Georgia State University in Macon.
“Fred
was willing to work with anybody regardless of their politics,” Manis
said. “If they were on the side of freedom as soon as possible and
equality as soon as possible, he was on board with them.”
The
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute voted Jan. 4 to rescind an award to
Davis, after Birmingham Jewish leaders objected to her being named
recipient of the Fred Shuttlesward Award. The Feb. 16 gala at which she
would have received it was canceled. An alternative event will be
organized on the same day, and Davis issued a statement saying she plans
to attend.
Davis, an author and retired
professor, was known for a life of activism that included memberships in
the Black Panther Party and the Communist Party USA.
Her
activism on behalf of Palestinians, including calling for divestment
and boycotts against Israel, was cited by members of Birmingham’s Jewish
community as a reason to question the award and the invitation to speak
in the city where she grew up.
Manis, who
traveled with and researched Shuttlesworth for 12 years, said he’s not
aware of Davis and Shuttlesworth speaking together or being on the same
program.
“I never saw a letter or saw anything that indicated a close relationship,” Manis said.
“I’m certain she was aware of him and he was no doubt aware of her.”
Davis
was born in Birmingham in 1944 and raised in a neighborhood in
Smithfield that was bombed so often it was nicknamed “Dynamite Hill.”
Shuttlesworth
was born in Birmingham in 1922 and from 1953-61 was pastor of Bethel
Baptist Church in Collegeville, which served as a headquarters for
Birmingham’s civil rights activism as Shuttlesworth led the fight
against legal segregation in the city’s schools, buses and public
accommodations. Shuttlesworth’s church and home were bombed by the Ku
Klux Klan. In 1963, although Shuttlesworth was then pastor of a church
in Cincinnati, he returned to help lead civil rights marches in
Birmingham with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
“He
was much more willing to relate and work with people who were
politically radical, much more than King was, up until the last couple
years of his (King’s) life,” Manis said.
The rough-edged Shuttlesworth, who died in 2011 at 89, would likely be riled up about the decision to withdraw the Shuttlesworth Award from Davis, Manis said.
“I
think Fred would be cussing,” Manis said. “He often bragged about being
a cussing preacher. I think he’d be cussing about this.”
During
his time as a pastor in Birmingham, Shuttlesworth was brutally beaten
by a mob, sprayed with city fire hoses, and arrested by police 35 times.
The
defining moment for Shuttlesworth came during the 1956 Christmas night
bombing that shattered the Bethel Baptist Church and crumbled the
parsonage next door. He walked out of the rubble almost unscathed, yet
he recalled that the mattress he was sleeping on was blown to bits.
The
day after the bombing, he and his supporters were back in the front
seats of city buses, defying segregation laws. He was arrested for again
riding in whites-only seats in 1958. Even his children were arrested in
1960 for violating bus segregation laws.
I
didn’t have the great fortune of ever meeting the fiery Birmingham
preacher who was one of the most seminal figures in our city’s history,
but I simply cannot imagine he would have done this.
Or condoned it.
I
can’t fathom the man who challenged African Americans to register and
vote, who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Dr. Martin Luther King to
organize and lead the critical Children’s Crusade, who stared down Bull
Connor to end legal segregation in Birmingham, would have capitulated.
He
would not have bowed to anyone trying to dissuade him from honoring
someone who fought the same fight— even if they fought with a different
fervor, even if they were decidedly more revolutionary.
As long as they fought.
And
yet one of our most venerable cultural institutions, the Birmingham
Civil Rights Institute, did just that—it crumbled, embarrassingly so, to
outside pressures and rescinded its invitation to honor a widely esteemed daughter of Birmingham,
activist Angela Davis, with the BCRI’s Fred R. Shuttlesworth Human
Rights Award at its annual fund-raising gala next month. (The board, which announced its decision in the depths of darkness on Saturday evening, also said it canceled the event entirely.)
It
caved to voices clearly uncomfortable with aspects of Davis’ widely
known revolutionary past, which includes membership in the Black Panther
and Communist parties and, most recently, support for the Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS) against Israel. (In Chicago in
2017, Davis, who regularly speaks at events nationwide, said she was in
“solidarity with the indigenous people of this region,” referring to
Palestinians.)
The loudest voices
primarily—though not exclusively—came from the city’s Jewish leadership,
and the decision transpired suddenly, and stunningly, in a span of just
a few days.
In
part, it read: “Something not included in the Institute's publicity for
the event is that Davis has also been an outspoken voice in the
boycott-Israel movement, and advocates extensively on college campuses
for the isolation of the Jewish state, saying Israel engages in ethnic
cleansing and is connected to police violence against African-Americans
in the United States.”
“When I wrote it,” Brooks told AL.com
on Sunday, “it was more to inform the community that there is a bit
more to Angela Davis. I figured there might be some who would not want
to attend [the gala] because of certain aspects of her activism.”
That
essay may have been the spark that grew into a raging flame. “I figure
there were some people who reached out to the Institute to see how it
all when down,” Brooks said. “The [Birmingham] Jewish Federation was
among those.”
Richard Friedman, the BJF’s executive director who,
according to sources, participated in the effort to dissuade the BCRI
from honoring Davis, did not return a telephone call or text message
seeking comment.
Theirs, though, was not the only dissenting voice in the cacophony that quickly swayed the BCRI board.
BCRI
board vice chair Walter Body said it “received questions from the
African-American community, the Jewish community, and the white
community. It was not one just community.” (Body would also not reveal
specific names)
Among the voices was General
Charles Krulak the retired Marine Commander and former president of
Birmingham-Southern College. In an email sent to BCRI board members in
January 1, and obtained by Al.com, he expressed “sadness” at Davis’ selection.
His feelings, though—which are somewhat diffused by his charge for members to “simply look at her Wikipedia page”—were
largely supported by her Communist party membership (“…she was twice a
candidate for Vice President of the United States on the CPUSA ticket,”
he wrote), her being placed on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s “10
most wanted fugitive list” (remember, this was J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI)
and a reference to a 1972 case in which Davis was found not guilty of
“aggravating kidnapping and first degree murder in the death of Judge
Harold Haley,” he wrote.
He added: “… the fact that the guns she owned and
were used in the crime was judged insufficient to establish her role in
the crime.”
The 16-member board
voted late last Friday afternoon during an “emergency” telephone
meeting in which it, according to sources, went into executive
session—meaning only voting members participated. That excluded two
ex-officio board members: respected Birmingham icon Odessa Woolfolk and
mayor Randall Woodfin.
AL.com
submitted an open-records request for the minutes of that meeting to
determine the vote tally and how board members voted. As of this
posting, we have not received those minutes.
To
many, across generations, Davis is a icon whose distinctive Afro and
recognizable face still adorn t-shirts and posters recounting the era of
black empowerment and self-worth that still inspires—and, yes, scares
some.
Not surprisingly, the decision prompted a quick and vitriolic backlash, particularly on social media.
*sigh*...this will be a long post so govern yourselves accordingly.
First of all, let me state that I have and will always have nothing but
pure, profound love for the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. I became
a professional there. Met my wife there. My children spent most of
their lives in those hallways. I deposited an crazy amount of blood,
sweat and tears there. I have no intention of bashing them in this post.
Angela Davis is a daughter of Birmingham. Born in the fi...See More
Typically—I
think it’s important to make informed statements and to not get caught
up in the noise that usually emanates around controversy. However,
the cancellation of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute’s annual gala,
where global human rights activist Angela Yvonne Davis was set to
receive the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth Award, lays heavy on my heart. ❤️
Those who know and understand her contributions and legacy will continue to celebrate her everyday with our life’s work.
The Outcast Voters League, led by President Frank Matthews, will hold a
10:45 a.m. press conference Monday at Kelly Ingram Park to also call for
release the minutes of the meeting. He says the group is “willing to
protest” the Institute.
BCRI CEO Andrea Taylor did not respond to requests for comment.
Mayor
Woodfin expressed “dismay” at the decision in a lengthy statement
released on Sunday, saying it “harks backward, rather than forward —
that portrays us as the same Birmingham we always have been, rather than
the one we want to be.”
Indeed,
this decision merited better than being hastily made and supported with
details of why Davis was deemed suddenly to “not meet all of the
criteria on which the award is based.”
It
merited an intentional, in-depth dialogue among all factions, all
perspectives—one that just might have resulted in a compromise, perhaps a
gala preceded by a smart, public and enlightened discussion about all
aspects of Davis’ eclectic journey.
A discussion worthy of the Birmingham we should be.
Worthy of BRCI’s legacy as the globally renowned steward of our city’s deep, rich and vital history.
Worthy of Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth.
In
its statement, the BCRI board said: “… we believe this decision is
consistent with the ideals of the award’s namesake, Rev. Shuttlesworth.”
It isn’t. Not at all.
Don’t just believe me. Here’s someone who knew Rev. Shuttlesworth, knew him well:
“Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth would be embarrassed and bewildered by such an action,” Dr. Horace Huntley, a retired professor of history at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and noted keeper of the city’s past, told AL.com.
“In fact, it is no secret of how much Rev. Shuttlesworth abhorred the
dictatorial nature of the entrenched and out of touch status quo. He
exuded courage and was an antidote to cowardliness. Such an action is
less indicative of what the Board knows about Angela Davis and more
instructive of what the Board fails to understand about Rev.
Shuttlesworth.”
…exuded courage…and antidote to cowardliness.
That’s the Rev. Shuttlesworth those who knew him describe. Not a perfect man, but one who spoke his truth to the powers that conspired against him and the people he loved.
Just as Davis—certainly not a perfect woman—has long spoken her truth to powers on these shores and beyond for almost all of her near 75 years.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Roy S. Johnson’s column appears in The Birmingham News, the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Register and AL.com. Hit me up at rjohnson@al.com.
Civil Rights Award Rescinded From Angela Davis After Jewish Community Objections
by Sherrel Wheeler Stewart NPR
Political activist Angela Davis speaks onstage at the
National Museum Of African American History and Culture last year in
Washington, D.C. Mike Coppola/Getty Images
The Fred Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award is supposed to honor the
civil rights leader's legacy and raise funds for the Birmingham Civil
Rights Institute. But after some members in the city's Jewish community
objected to giving the award to human rights activist Angela Davis, this
year's award presentation is derailed and the community is divided.
In October, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute's board announced it would honor Davis at a February event. Now, it says,
the award presentation is canceled because Davis' statements and public
record do not "meet all of the criteria on which the award is based."
Attempts to get more details from the board regarding its decision have
been unsuccessful.
The controversy set off social media responses around the country and
a protest outside the Civil Rights Institute, where local activists
called for leaders of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute to resign
after the organization canceled plans to honor Davis. The Birmingham
mayor said he's dismayed by the decision.
Temple University professor and commentator Marc Lamont Hill, who has faced criticism himself over his past comments supporting Palestinians, tweeted in support of Davis.
This is shameful. I stand with my dear sister and friend Angela Davis.
BCRI@bhamcivilrights
The associated gala event, scheduled for February 16th at Haven has been cancelled. Ticket purchasers will received a full refund.
The JewishVoiceForPeace tweeted:
"To argue that Angela Davis is unworthy of a civil rights award is
beyond shameful. And to dance around the fact that it's due to her
outspoken support of Palestinian rights makes it outrageous."
To argue that Angela Davis is unworthy of a civil rights award is beyond shameful. And to dance around the fact that it’s due to her outspoken support of Palestinian rights makes it outrageous.
Part of the board's decision may be tied to a statement and social media postfrom a prominent Birmingham civic leader and an essay in the magazine Southern Jewish Life.
Retired Gen. Charles Krulak, a former local college
president, issued a statement saying he was saddened by Davis' selection
and questioned whether she deserved the award. He referred to details
from Wikipedia discussing Davis' membership in the Communist Party in
the 1980s and her support of Soviet bloc countries in the 1970s. The
statement was posted to Facebook by Richard Friedman of the Birmingham
Jewish Federation last week, but has since been removed:
A portion of a statement by Charles Krulak posted on Facebook last week.
Courtesy Sherrel Wheeler Stewart
In the Southern Jewish Life article, author Larry Brook
took issue with Davis' stance as an "outspoken voice in the
boycott-Israel movement" and her comparing Israel's treatment of
Palestinians to police shootings of African-Americans.
Davis responded late Monday, saying she asked for more substantive
details on the board's decision and learned that her long-term support
of justice for Palestinians was at issue. "This seemed
particularly unfortunate, given that my own freedom was secured — and
indeed my life was saved — by a vast international movement," Davis
said. "And I have devoted much of my own activism to international
solidarity and, specifically, to linking struggles in other parts of the
world to U.S. grassroots campaigns against police violence, the prison
industrial complex, and racism more broadly." Davis grew up in a
Birmingham community that was known as Dynamite Hill, because the Ku
Klux Klan frequently bombed the homes of black lawyers, business owners
and leaders who lived there. The author of 10 books, Davis has
lectured throughout the United States and in Europe, Africa, Asia,
Australia and South America. Her works address the social problems
associated with incarceration, poverty and race. In the early 1970s, she
spent 18 months in jail and on trial, after being placed on the FBI's
"10 Most Wanted List." Davis said that receiving the award
would have been the highlight of her year because "I knew Rev.
Shuttlesworth personally and attended school with his daughter,
Patricia, and because my mother, Sallye B. Davis, worked tirelessly for
the BCRI during its early years." Davis still plans to visit Birmingham in February and said she will speak at an alternative event. On Tuesday, the Birmingham City Council unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday recognizing Davis' life's work. A
passionate Birmingham City Councilor Steven Hoyt said: "It's
disheartening. It's embarrassing to judge a person by a segment of their
life. We let a few folk decide how we celebrate the black community. We
all should be outraged. She's a premier person when it comes to women's
rights, race relations. Here she has an opportunity to be honored." Note: The nine-member council includes three whites and six blacks.
Fred Shuttlesworth From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fred Shuttlesworth
Frederick Lee "Fred" Shuttlesworth (born Fred Lee Robinson, March 18, 1922 – October 5, 2011[1]) was a U.S. civil rights activist who led the fight against segregation and other forms of racism as a minister in Birmingham, Alabama. He was a co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, initiated and was instrumental in the 1963 Birmingham Campaign, and continued to work against racism and for alleviation of the problems of the homeless in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he took up a pastorate in 1961.[2] He returned to Birmingham after his retirement in 2007. He helped Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement.
The Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport was named in his honor in 2008.
Early life
Born in Mount Meigs, Alabama, Shuttlesworth became pastor of the Bethel Baptist Church in Birmingham in 1953 and was Membership Chairman of the Alabama state chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1956, when the State of Alabama formally outlawed it from operating within the state. In May 1956, Shuttlesworth and Ed Gardner established the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights to take up the work formerly done by the NAACP.
The ACMHR raised almost all of its funds from local sources at mass meetings. It used both litigation and direct action to pursue its goals. When the authorities ignored the ACMHR's demand that the City hire black police officers, the organization sued. Similarly, when the United States Supreme Court ruled in December 1956 that bus segregation in Montgomery, Alabama, was unconstitutional, Shuttlesworth announced that the ACMHR would challenge segregation laws in Birmingham on December 26, 1956.
On December 25, 1956, unknown persons tried to kill Shuttlesworth by placing sixteen sticks of dynamite under his bedroom window. Shuttlesworth somehow escaped unhurt even though his house was heavily damaged. A police officer, who also belonged to the Ku Klux Klan, told Shuttlesworth as he came out of his home, "If I were you I'd get out of town as quick as I could". Shuttlesworth told him to tell the Klan that he was not leaving and "I wasn't raised to run."
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
In 1957, Shuttlesworth, along with Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Abernathy from Montgomery, Joseph Lowery from Mobile, Alabama, T. J. Jemison from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Charles Kenzie Steele from Tallahassee, Florida, A. L. Davis from New Orleans, Louisiana, Bayard Rustin and Ella Baker founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The SCLC adopted a motto to underscore its commitment to nonviolence: "Not one hair of one head of one person should be harmed."
Shuttlesworth embraced that philosophy, even though his own personality was combative, headstrong and sometimes blunt-spoken to the point that he frequently antagonized his colleagues in the Civil Rights Movement as well as his opponents. He was not shy in asking King to take a more active role in leading the fight against segregation and warning that history would not look kindly on those who gave "flowery speeches" but did not act on them. He alienated some members of his congregation by devoting as much time as he did to the movement at the expense of weddings, funerals, and other ordinary church functions.
As a result, in 1961, Shuttlesworth moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, to take up the pastorage of the Revelation Baptist Church. He remained intensely involved in the Birmingham campaign after moving to Cincinnati, and frequently returned to help lead actions.
Shuttlesworth was apparently personally fearless, even though he was aware of the risks he ran. Other committed activists were scared off or mystified by his willingness to accept the risk of death. Shuttlesworth himself vowed to "kill segregation or be killed by it".[2] Murder attempts
When Shuttlesworth and his wife Ruby attempted to enroll their children in a previously all-white public school in Birmingham in 1957, a mob of Klansmen attacked them, with the police nowhere to be seen. His assailants included Bobby Frank Cherry, who six years later was involved in the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing. The mob beat Shuttlesworth with chains and brass knuckles in the street while someone stabbed his wife. Shuttlesworth drove himself and his wife to the hospital where he told his kids to always forgive.
In 1956, Shuttlesworth survived another attempt on his life. A church member standing guard saw a bomb and quickly moved it to the street before it went off.[2] Freedom Rides
Shuttlesworth participated in the sit-ins against segregated lunch counters in 1960 and took part in the organization and completion of the Freedom Rides in 1961.
RELATED: [Shuttlesworth pastored Bethel Baptist Church from 1953 to 1961. The church served as headquarters and a frequent meeting place for the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR), which Shuttlesworth founded in 1956. Shuttlesworth and his church endured three bombings, the first on December 25, 1956.]
Shuttlesworth originally warned that Alabama was extremely volatile when he was consulted before the Freedom Rides began. Shuttlesworth noted that he respected the courage of the activists proposing the Rides but that he felt other actions could be taken to accelerate the Civil Rights Movement that would be less dangerous.[3] However, the planners of the Rides were undeterred and decided to continue preparing.
After it became certain that the Freedom Rides were to be carried out, Shuttlesworth worked with the Congress of Racial Equality to organize the Rides[4] and became engaged with ensuring the success of the rides, especially during their stint in Alabama.[5] Shuttlesworth mobilized some of his fellow clergy to assist the rides. After the Riders were badly beaten and nearly killed in Birmingham and Anniston during the Rides, he sent deacons to pick up the Riders from a hospital in Anniston. He himself had been brutalized earlier in the day and had faced down the threat of being thrown out of the hospital by the hospital superintendent.[6] Shuttlesworth took in the Freedom Riders at the Bethel Baptist Church, allowing them to recuperate after the violence that had occurred earlier in the day.[7]
The violence in Anniston and Birmingham almost led to a quick end to the Freedom Rides. However, the actions of supporters like Shuttlesworth gave James Farmer, the leader of C.O.R.E., which had originally organized the Freedom Rides, and other activists the courage to press forward.[8] After the violence that occurred in Alabama but before the Freedom Riders could move on, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy gave Shuttlesworth his personal phone number in case the Freedom Riders needed federal support.[9]
When Shuttlesworth prepared the Riders to leave Birmingham and they reached the Greyhound Terminal, the Riders found themselves stranded as no bus driver was willing to drive the controversial group into Mississippi.[9] Shuttlesworth stuck with the Riders[10] and called Kennedy.[9] Prompted by Shuttlesworth, Kennedy tried to find a replacement bus driver; his efforts eventually proved unsuccessful. The Riders then decided to take a plane to New Orleans (where they had planned on finishing the Rides) and were assisted by Shuttlesworth in getting to the airport and onto the plane.[11]
Shuttlesworth's commitment to the Freedom Rides was highlighted by Diane Nash, a student activist in the Nashville Student Movement and a major organizer of the later waves of Rides. Nash noted,
"Fred was practically a legend. I think it was important – for me, definitely, and for a city of people who were carrying on a movement – for there to be somebody that really represented strength, and that's certainly what Fred did. He would not back down, and you could count on it. He would not sell out, [and] you could count on that."[2]
The students involved in the Rides appreciated Shuttlesworth's commitment to the principles of the Freedom Rides – ending the segregationist laws of the Jim Crow South. Shuttlesworth's fervent passion for equality made him a role model to many of the Riders.[2] Project C
Shuttlesworth invited SCLC and King to come to Birmingham in 1963 to lead the campaign to desegregate it through mass demonstrations–what Shuttlesworth called "Project C", the "C" standing for "confrontation". While Shuttlesworth was willing to negotiate with political and business leaders for peaceful abandonment of segregation, he believed, with good reason, that they would not take any steps that they were not forced to take. He suspected their promises could not be trusted until they acted on them.
One of the 1963 demonstrations he led resulted in Shuttlesworth's being convicted of parading without a permit from the City Commission. On appeals the case reached the US Supreme Court. In its 1969 decision of Shuttlesworth v. Birmingham, the Supreme Court reversed Shuttlesworth's conviction, determining that circumstances indicated that the parade permit was denied not to control traffic, as the state contended, but to censor ideas.
In 1963, Shuttlesworth was set on provoking a crisis that would force the authorities and business leaders to recalculate the cost of segregation. This occurred when James Bevel, SCLC's Director of Direct Action and Director of Nonviolent Education, initiated and organized the young students of the city to stand up for their rights.[12] This plan was helped immeasurably by Eugene "Bull" Connor, the Commissioner of Public Safety and the most powerful public official in Birmingham, who used Klan groups to heighten violence against blacks in the city. Even as the business class was beginning to see the end of segregation, Connor was determined to maintain it. While Connor's direct police tactics intimidated black citizens of Birmingham, they also created a split between Connor and the business leaders. They resented both the damage Connor was doing to Birmingham's image around the world and his high-handed attitude toward them.
Similarly, while Connor may have benefited politically in the short run from Shuttlesworth's and Bevel's determined provocations, they also fit into Shuttleworth's long-term plans. The televised images of Connor's directing handlers of police dogs to attack young unarmed demonstrators and firefighters' using hoses to knock down children had a profound effect on American citizens' view of the civil rights struggle, and helped lead to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Shuttlesworth's activities were not limited to Birmingham. In 1964, he traveled to St. Augustine, Florida (which he often cited as the place where the civil rights struggle met with the most violent resistance), taking part in marches and widely publicized beach wade-ins.
In 1965, he was active in the Selma Voting Rights Movement, and its march from Selma to Montgomery which led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Shuttlesworth thus played a role in the efforts that led to the passage of the two great legislative accomplishments of the Civil Rights Movement. In later years he took part in commemorative activities in Selma at the time of the anniversary of the famous march. And he returned to St. Augustine in 2004 to take part in a celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the St. Augustine movement there.[2][13] 1966–2006: After the Voting Rights Act
Shuttlesworth organized the Greater New Light Baptist Church in 1966.
In 1978, Shuttlesworth was portrayed by Roger Robinson in the television miniseries King.
Shuttlesworth founded the "Shuttlesworth Housing Foundation" in 1988 to assist families who might otherwise be unable to buy their own homes.
In 1998, Shuttlesworth became an early signer and supporter of the Birmingham Pledge, a grassroots community commitment to combating racism and prejudice. It has since then been used for programs in all fifty states and in more than twenty countries.[14]
On January 8, 2001, he was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Bill Clinton. Named president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in August 2004, he resigned later in the year, complaining that "deceit, mistrust and a lack of spiritual discipline and truth have eaten at the core of this once-hallowed organization".
In 2004, Shuttlesworth received the Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.[15]
During the 2004 election that overturned a city charter provision that prohibited Cincinnati's City Council from adopting any gay rights ordinance,[16] Shuttlesworth voiced advertisements urging voters to reject the repeal, saying "The thing that I disagree with is when gay people ... equate civil rights, what we did in the '50s and '60s, with special rights ... I think what they propose is special rights. Sexual rights is not the same as civil rights and human rights."[17] Family
Although he was born Freddie Lee Robinson, Shuttlesworth took the name of his stepfather, William N. Shuttlesworth.[18]
Shuttlesworth was married to Ruby Keeler Shuttlesworth, with whom he had four children: Patricia Shuttlesworth Massengill, Ruby Shuttlesworth Bester, Fred L. Shuttlesworth Jr., and Carolyn Shuttlesworth. The Shuttleworths divorced in 1970, and Ruby died the following year.[19]
Shuttlesworth married Sephira Bailey in 2007.[19] After retirement
Prompted by the removal of a non-cancerous brain tumor in August of the previous year, he gave his final sermon in front of 300 people at the Greater New Light Baptist Church on March 19, 2006—the weekend of his 84th birthday. He and his second wife, Sephira, moved to downtown Birmingham where he was receiving medical treatment.
On July 16, 2008, the Birmingham, Alabama, Airport Authority approved changing the name of the Birmingham's airport in honor of Shuttlesworth. On October 27, 2008, the airport was officially changed to Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport.
On October 5, 2011, Shuttlesworth died at the age of 89 in his hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute announced that it intends to include Shuttlesworth's burial site on the Civil Rights History Trail.[20][21] By order of Alabama governor Robert Bentley, flags on state government buildings were to be lowered to half-staff until Shuttlesworth's interment.[22]
He is buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Birmingham.[23] See also
flagAlabama portal Biography portal iconAfrican American portal
List of civil rights leaders Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement
References
Houck, Davis W.; Dixon, David E., eds. (2006). Rhetoric, Religion and the Civil Rights Movement 1954-1965. Waco: Baylor University Press. p. 250. ISBN 1932792546. Retrieved 2015-01-18. Manis, Andrew M (1999). A Fire You Can't Put Out: The Civil Rights Life of Birmingham's Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. ISBN 0-8173-0968-3. Arsenault, Raymond (2006). Freedom riders: 1961 and the struggle for racial justice. Oxford UP. p. 106. ISBN 978-0-19-513674-6. African American Registry. "Fred Shuttlesworth, Minister and Leader!" "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-03-23. Retrieved 2011-04-07.. Manis, Andrew M. (Summer–Fall 2000) "Birmingham's Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth: unsung hero of the civil rights movement." Baptist History and Heritage, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NXG/is_3_35/ai_94160959/?tag=content;col1. Arsenault, Raymond (2006). Freedom riders: 1961 and the struggle for racial justice. Oxford UP. p. 148. ISBN 978-0-19-513674-6. Arsenault, Raymond (2006). Freedom riders: 1961 and the struggle for racial justice. Oxford UP. pp. 159–62. ISBN 978-0-19-513674-6. Arsenault, Raymond (2006). Freedom riders: 1961 and the struggle for racial justice. Oxford UP. pp. 166–9. ISBN 978-0-19-513674-6. Arsenault, Raymond (2006). Freedom riders: 1961 and the struggle for racial justice. Oxford UP. pp. 170–1. ISBN 978-0-19-513674-6. The Birmingham News (February 26, 2006). "The Road to Change." "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-12-27. Retrieved 2011-04-08.. Arsenault, Raymond (2006). Freedom riders: 1961 and the struggle for racial justice. Oxford UP. p. 172. ISBN 978-0-19-513674-6. "James L. Bevel The Strategist of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement" by Randy Kryn, a paper in David Garrow's 1989 book We Shall Overcome, Volume II, Carlson Publishing Company McWhorter, Diane (2001). Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama, the Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-1772-1. "Birmingham Pledge". Encyclopedia of Alabama. 2011-05-12. Retrieved 2011-10-06. "O'Connor wins top honor at Jefferson Awards fete". AP. June 24, 2004. Aldridge, Kevin (November 3, 2004). "City voters repeal amendment on gay rights". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Johnston, John; Alltucker, Ken (October 17, 2004). "Coming to terms with gay issues: Region leans toward tolerance, not acceptance". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Thornton, J. Mills, III (2002). Dividing Lines: Municipal Politics and the Struggle for Civil Rights in Montgomery, Birmingham, and Selma. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. p. 189. ISBN 081731170X. Retrieved 2015-01-18. Schudel, Matt (October 6, 2011). "Fred L. Shuttlesworth, courageous civil rights fighter, dies at 89". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2011-10-10. Gates, Verna (October 5, 2011). "Birmingham civil rights leader Fred Shuttlesworth dies". Reuters. Retrieved 2011-10-06. Washington, Dennis. "Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth passes away". MyFoxAL.com. Retrieved 2011-10-06. Stewart, Sherrel. "Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley orders flags on state buildings at half staff for Rev. Shuttlesworth". al.com. Retrieved 2011-10-06.
Garrison, Greg (October 24, 2011). "Shuttlesworth buried at Birmingham's Oak Hill after final tributes". AL.com.
Bibliography
Andrew Manis. (1999) A Fire You Can't Put Out: The Civil Rights Life of Birmingham's Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. ISBN 0-8173-0968-3 Branch, Taylor (1988) Parting The Waters; America In The King Years 1954–63. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-671-46097-8 Manis, Andrew M. (Summer–Fall 2000) "Birmingham's Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth: unsung hero of the civil rights movement".. Baptist History and Heritage. – accessed January 17, 2007 *McWhorter, Diane (2001). Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama, the Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-1772-1 Nunnelley, William (1991). Bull Connor. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 0-585-32316-X White, Marjorie Longenecker (1998) A Walk to Freedom: The Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth and the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. Birmingham: Birmingham Historical Society. ISBN 0-943994-24-1 White, Marjorie, Manis, Andrew, eds. (2000) Birmingham Revolutionaries: The Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth and the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. Mercer University Press. ISBN 0-86554-709-2 Curnutte, Mark (January 20, 1997) "In the Name of Civil Rights: The Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth carries on a 40-year fight as the movement's 'battlefield general'." Cincinnati Enquirer – accessed January 20, 2007. "The Champion" (November 26, 1965) Time Magazine. Walton, Val (February 19, 2008) "Rev. Shuttlesworth to return to Birmingham for post-stroke therapy." Birmingham News Garrison, Greg (June 29, 2008) "Legacy, history of civil rights icon Fred Shuttlesworth." Birmingham News The White House – Office of the Press Secretary
External links
Fred Shuttlesworth from the Encyclopedia of Alabama Fred Shuttleswoth's oral history video excerpts at The National Visionary Leadership Project Appearances on C-SPAN Fred Shuttleswoth in The Road to Equality roundtable discussion on CETconnect
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Kofi Natambu, editor of The Panopticon Review, is a writer, poet, cultural critic, and political journalist whose poetry, essays, criticism, reviews, and journalism have appeared in many literary magazines, journals, newspapers, and anthologies. He is the author of a biography MALCOLM X: His Life & Work (Alpha Books) and two books of poetry: THE MELODY NEVER STOPS (Past Tents Press) and INTERVALS (Post Aesthetic Press). He was the founder and editor of SOLID GROUND: A NEW WORLD JOURNAL, a national quarterly magazine of the arts, culture, and politics and the editor of a literary anthology NOSTALGIA FOR THE PRESENT (Post Aesthetic Press). Natambu has read his work throughout the country and given many lectures and workshops at academic and arts institutions. He has taught American literature, literary theory and criticism, cultural history and criticism, film studies, political science, creative writing, philosophy, critical theory, and music history and criticism (Jazz, Blues, R&B, Hip Hop) at many universities and colleges. He was also a curator in the Education Department of Detroit’s Museum of African American History. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Natambu currently lives in Berkeley, California with his wife Chuleenan.
