The Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth - RIP

I don’t have anything against the late Steve Jobs.  He was very successful in what he did in his life and the technology he advance has perhaps led to our present day society.  His technological impact will live on perhaps forever.  And it made him a very rich man.  I owned an Ipod once (that was stolen) but somehow it wasn't really that important in my life. 

It must have been important to someone as I have seen and glanced over quite a few tributes to the man.  Everyone from Rush Limbaugh, to Mitt Romney, to Rupert Murdoch and Bill Gates all have expressed their condolences. So indeed Mr. Jobs, rest in peace. 

I have seen less articles and news stories and tributes to a man that means much more to me.  That man is The Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth who dies at a Birmingham hospital on Wednesday.  He was 89 years old. 

Rev, Shuttlesworth was a co-founder of the Southern Leadership conference with Ralph Abernathy and Dr. King and is considered one of the giants of the Civil Rights movement.  He is considered one of its heroes. 

In 2006 Jabari Asim wrote in the Washington Post, the following about Rev. Shuttlesworth: 

“In 1963, during the most volatile period of the Birmingham campaign led by the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., a fireman hit Shuttlesworth with a blast from his hose and pinned him against the wall of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. The stunned minister was taken away in an ambulance under the watchful eye of Bull Connor, the city’s notorious public safety commissioner. Watching the vehicle drive off, Connor declared, “I wish they had carried him away in a hearse.” 

There were many other acts of violence that were done to him.  Someone ignited 16 sticks of dynamite and blew up his house in 1956, with the Reverend and his family inside.  Another time an angry mob stabbed his wife in the hip.  And somehow I believe those same cowards serve in all forms of government even today. 

In 1957, the Rev. Shuttlesworth tried to enroll his children in the all-white Phillips High School. For this simple act he was beaten by cowards with brass knuckles, chains and wooden clubs.  It’s always a mob in these cases, never a lone thug.  I guess those idiots were really afraid. 

He dedicated his life to helping people who were not even considered citizens much less humans to obtain their rights.  He never got the fame.  He never got the money.  He in fact pretty much always got himself a hospital stay because he was beaten so badly.  They never carried Reverend Shuttlesworth away in a hearse.  In fact he outlived Connor’s brand of racism, cowardice and stupidity.  Even up until about 2006 he was only sidelined a little because of a brain tumor. 

Even with all of these accomplishments his death was still somehow overshadowed by Mr. Jobs.  I did a quick Google search and the only in the news politician I could find that said anything about his death was our current President:

"He was a testament to the strength of the human spirit. And today we stand on his shoulders, and the shoulders of all those who marched and sat and lifted their voices to help perfect our union."

I am probably wrong in my assessment and maybe I need to look a little deeper.  For instance, I know for a fact John Lewis mentioned his passing also.  I would expect nothing less from the man also in the trenches of the Civil Rights Era.  Nancy Pelosi also mentioned his death as did John Huntsman.  I just find it interesting that this great man's death appears to have been forgotten by the current crop of political bobble heads.

Shame.  I will look again though.

Rest in Peace Reverend Shuttlesworth.  We will see you later.  And you are not forgotten.