Actor comes to town to accept humanitarian prize

11/16/03

Eleven years ago when the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute opened its doors, Danny Glover stopped by for a visit.

On a return trip Saturday, his visit was filled with pomp and circumstance. The institute celebrated its 11th anniversary and elected to recognize Glover's significant humanitarian work, which has involved the United Nations, focusing on poverty, disease and economic underdevelopment in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.

The film and television star was the second person to receive the Fred L. Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award, named for the former Birmingham minister who used nonviolent means to fight for integration in Birmingham during the 1950s and 1960s. Shuttlesworth was the first recipient, last year.

Glover, who left a Vancouver movie set at 4 a.m. Saturday to make the evening awards ceremony, said he was honored "beyond any expression of words."

"To receive an award in the name of Fred Shuttlesworth ... is something quite honorable," Glover told a group of reporters before entering a downtown hotel ballroom for the awards ceremony. "My being here, my presence is a reflection ... a testimony to what I think is important."

Glover dismissed a reporter's reference that he was a "great humanitarian." Instead, he called himself a "citizen of the world."

"What I keep trying to do in every moment and every action that I do ... is try to learn and try to see what I'm capable of seeing," he said.

Ethel Hall, president of the Birmingham Civil Rights Board of Directors, said they looked long and hard for an activist who embodied Shuttlesworth's principles and philosophies and had a true concern for others. They found one in Glover.

Hall said she didn't know if they could get Glover to come to Birmingham, but after some hard, dedicated work, they succeeded. Prior to his appearance and speech at the banquet, Glover made a recording at the institute to be used in its living history exhibit.

"We are so pleased that he was willing to spend all day long to get here," she said.

Shuttlesworth, 81, said Glover has developed into a stellar champion for justice and freedom, and he's lifted the poor and oppressed.

"That's a godly move and he's a godly man," Shuttlesworth said.