Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth(1922–2011) was one of the most fearless leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. A Baptist minister in Birmingham, Alabama, he co-founded the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights in 1956 after the state outlawed the NAACP. From that moment, he became a relentless force against segregation in one of the most violently racist cities in the South. His home was bombed on Christmas night in 1956, yet he emerged determined, declaring that God had spared him to fight on. Shuttlesworth worked closely with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and helped bring the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to Birmingham in 1963, where protests—including the Children’s Crusade—exposed the brutality of segregation to the world. Beaten, jailed, and repeatedly threatened, he never backed down. His courage helped dismantle Jim Crow laws in public transportation, schools, and public facilities, making him a central architect of the movement’s victories and a symbol of unshakable moral conviction.
The Joy Trip Project celebrates the enduring legacy of American History. The Unhidden Minute is part of the Unhidden Podcast Project supported through a National Geographic Explorer Grant from the National Geographic Society, with the cooperation of the National Park Service. This series elevates the untold stories of Black American historical figures, events and cultural contributions.
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