(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

BY KYLIE MCGIVERN

Civil rights leader Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth died Wednesday. WKRC has more.

 

“Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, a pioneer in the fight for racial equality, is dead at the age of 89. The Civil Rights icon past away today in Birmingham, Alabama.”

During the height of the 1950s and 1960s civil rights movement, Shuttlesworth stood beside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Those close to Shuttlesworth say one one word describes him best -- fearless.

“Not afraid of anything, courageous, courage of a lion. We always called him like a David in the Bible. We would follow him anywhere because he had courage of his convictions, and he was not just leading from behind, he was leading out front.” (WKRC)

Shuttlesworth is considered one of the “Big Three” civil rights leaders along with Dr. King and Ralph Abernathy.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution quotes President Barack Obama’s statement on Shuttlesworth’s death.

“A testament to the strength of the human spirit … 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.”

Shuttlesworth survived numerous beatings and bombings in his fight for justice. The International Business Times reports...

“He survived a bombing in 1956, when 16 sticks of dynamite exploded outside his bedroom, and he led a rally the very next day … a police officer and Ku Klux Klan member warned Shuttlesworth, "If I were you, I'd get out of this town as quick as I could." Shuttlesworth's response was simply, "I wasn't saved to run."

CNN interviewed fellow civil rights leader Andrew Young, who says...

CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER ANDREW YOUNG: “He was absolutely fearless, and the amazing thing is not that he’s dying at 89, but the amazing thing is that he lived this long, because he never compromised with segregation. He was always willing to put his life and his family’s life on the line.”

The Washington Post reveals Young isn’t the only one amazed by Shuttlesworth’s full life. So was civil the rights leader himself.

“I did not expect to live to get 40 years old in the deep south. I expected to get killed. Martin, all of them expected me to get killed - and here I am, before anybody else. And here I am, double 40, and still going.”

That was nearly a decade ago. Year before, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. hailed Shuttlesworth’s contributions, calling him "one of the nation's the most courageous freedom fighters ... a wiry, energetic and indomitable man."  

Transcript by Newsy.