Birmingham’s Odessa Woolfolk Named Recipient of 2024 Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award

By Barnett Wright The Birmingham Times The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI) will present Odessa Woolfolk, the city’s renowned educator, civic leader, and lifelong advocate for civil and human rights, with the 2024 Fred L. Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award on Nov. 20. The award, named after the legendary Civil Rights leader and co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), recognizes individuals who have made enduring contributions to the ongoing fight for equality, justice, and human dignity. “That is an award of a lifetime,” Woolfolk told The Birmingham Times. “Rev. Shuttlesworth has been my idol since I first met him when he was here doing his work in the late ‘50’s and 60’s. To be associated with his values, his mission, his courage, his belief in people, equality and justice to … have something on my shelf that associates me with those values doesn’t get better than that.” Woolfolk, who helped found the BCRI, will receive the Award at the Institute’s 32nd anniversary celebration this month at the Institute, 520 16th Street N. in downtown Birmingham. “We are honored to present the Fred L. Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award to Odessa Woolfolk, whose lifelong dedication to human and civil rights has...