BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute has presented its highest honor to U.S. Rep. James Clyburn.
The South Carolina Democrat was the first black from the state elected to Congress since 1897. Clyburn, who serves as majority whip, received the Fred L. Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award, named for the civil rights icon, who was in attendance.
Clyburn says the award is an honor because he learned much from observing Shuttlesworth in Alabama when he worked in the civil rights movement as a young man working in South Carolina.
Past recipients of the award include actor Danny Glover, historian John Hope Franklin, Congressman John Lewis and the Rev. Joseph Lowery.
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