c. 2007 Religion News Service

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. _ It seems as if Birmingham civil rights pioneer the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth is now at peace with his legacy outside the shadow cast by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

That was illustrated recently in a joint appearance by Shuttlesworth and King’s oldest son, Martin Luther King III, at a Shuttlesworth statue in front of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and a King statue in this city’s Kelly Ingram Park.

“I was not ever envious of what was done for Martin,” Shuttlesworth said later. “I wasn’t pushing for a statue. I never was jealous. We were partners in fighting a great sin that had to be eradicated.”

But there was a time _ such as when King won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 _ when Shuttlesworth felt overlooked.

Now that he has his own statue across from King’s, was the subject of a major biography, has received at least eight honorary degrees and has finally gotten his just dues as one of the most important figures in the civil rights movement, Shuttlesworth clearly feels vindicated.

Shuttlesworth had his house bombed and was personally beaten by a mob as he worked for years to set the stage for the dismantling of segregation in Birmingham. He invited King to Birmingham to lead demonstrations in 1963 because he thought it was the right time for a breakthrough. King was coming off a failed campaign in Albany, Ga.

“He needed Birmingham as bad as Birmingham needed him,” Shuttlesworth said. “After Albany, he was at a low point. Nobody paid attention.”

Andrew Manis, assistant professor of history at Macon State College and author of the Shuttlesworth biography “A Fire You Can’t Put Out,” agrees with that assessment.

“It’s not that he didn’t realize King could make a significant impact that he couldn’t do alone,” Manis said. “But he realized that after King’s failure in Albany, he needed a success. Birmingham became that success. That success was built on the work Shuttlesworth had done. What turned out to be King’s first victory in quite a while was built on Fred Shuttlesworth.”

But in the aftermath of a dramatic scene of nonviolent protesters facing down dogs and fire hoses, with Shuttlesworth suffering injuries, Shuttlesworth was overlooked.

King took a large entourage to Oslo, Norway, for the Nobel ceremony. Shuttlesworth wasn’t invited.

“Had it not been for Birmingham, he never would have been invited to Norway,” Shuttlesworth said.

“I didn’t feel I was getting any credit,” he said. “The nation got the impression that Martin was doing everything.”

King’s death in 1968 made him an even larger figure for posterity.

“It’s not that he felt King shouldn’t have been viewed as the most important national leader of the movement,” Manis said of Shuttlesworth. “He understands that you can’t compete with a martyr.”

Shuttlesworth agrees that King deserves his status and all the credit he receives.

“He really tried to believe in and live out nonviolence,” Shuttlesworth said. “He really thought people ought to live the word more than they do. All of us accepted him as a leader.”

Despite many near-death experiences, Shuttlesworth’s longevity _ he will turn 85 on March 18 _ has allowed the accolades to catch up with him.

“I’ve got at least seven or eight honorary degrees,” he said. “I’m getting one from Xavier this year. I’ve always been humble about it. I really believe in God. To trust God is to truly believe in him.”

Shuttlesworth believes his own style of direct confrontation in defiance of segregation laws, which led to the attempts on his life, was directed by God.

“When I was in the darkest night, I had confidence in God,” Shuttlesworth said. “It was a divine role for me to play a role in dismantling segregation. Like in the Bible with the prophets, some had to suffer, some had to die. Most everybody thought I would die. I put myself in harm’s way.”

Shuttlesworth took over as temporary president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which King Jr. helped to found, after King III had served as president from 1997 to 2004.

Shuttlesworth said SCLC had lost its focus by then. “Everything was messed up,” he said. “They had a high-priced office and bills everywhere. He was the wrong person.”

King III suffered from expectations that were perhaps too high, Shuttlesworth said.

“They expected him to be his father, but he wasn’t his father,” Shuttlesworth said. “He didn’t understand that SCLC would be judged on how it got things going in the country.”

Still, the King family deserves more credit than it gets for its role in achieving civil rights, Shuttlesworth said. “His family ought to be recognized for all they’ve done,” he said.

It’s clear God had his hand on King, Shuttlesworth said.

“People ought to recognize Martin was God’s gift to our generation,” he said.

(Greg Garrison writes for The Birmingham News of Birmingham, Ala.)

KRE/PH END GARRISON

Editors: To obtain three photos of Shuttlesworth, go to the RNS Web site at https://religionnews.com. On the lower right, click on “photos,” then search by subject or slug.