Earlier today, the world lost a civil rights hero when the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth passed away. Described in a 1961  television documentary as "the man most feared by Southern racists," Shuttlesworth  lived through bombings, beatings, repeated  imprisonment and other attacks  as he endlessly worked to heal our country and champion justice and equality.

With other heroes such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph David Abernathy, and Bayard Rustin, Rev. Shuttlesworth co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).  SCLC staged mass boycotts and sit-ins, organized voter-registration drives and sponsored citizen education programs. Most notably, SCLC played a key role in the 1963 March on Washington and in influencing the passage of major civil rights legislation during the mid-1960s.

Rev. Shuttlesworth also assisted the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) in organizing the Freedom Rides. In 1963, Rev. Shuttlesworth was an instrumental leader in the Birmingham Campaign-  an effort to protest segregation and inequality in Alabama.

Later, he relocated to Ohio where he was the founding director of the Shuttlesworth Housing Foundation that helps low-income families purchase homes.

Thank you Rev. Shuttlesworth for your years of leadership and tireless commitment to equality! Rest in peace.