Warhawk Weekly 1-16: MLK Jr. Reflections Breakfast; Graduate Study Merit Scholarship
Stewart offers message of hope at MLK Breakfast
Shelley Stewart has seen things in his 89 years.
At age 5, he saw his father kill his mother with an ax. As a black child in Birmingham, he saw incredible beauty from afar in the parks and places he could not set foot in due to Jim Crow laws. He experienced homelessness and, for a time, a sense of hopelessness.
In recounting these stories Tuesday morning during AUM’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Reflections Breakfast, Stewart also offered insight into what shaped his journey as a successful broadcaster, entrepreneur, veteran and key voice in Alabama’s civil rights movement: pursuit of an education and a willingness to stir up what the late John Lewis referred to as “good trouble.”
As a self-described “ragged” child attending a segregated school, Stewart encountered a first grade teacher who offered the sort of encouragement that was rare for that place and that time.
“Miss Foster hugged me and said if you learn to read and get an education you can become anything you want to be,” Stewart recalled.
Homeless at age, Stewart said he survived by living in the basement of a white family from 1941-1948. He bonded with the family’s polio-stricken adult daughter, who quizzed him on his schoolwork. Her own experience of enduring discrimination due to her disability also offered a point of connection with Stewart, who vividly remembers whites-only water fountains and restrooms.
“She told me: ‘You are a human being. You are not less than anybody else,’” he said.
Stewart began his broadcast career at Birmingham’s WDER radio at age 16. He built a following as a radio personality – “Shelley the Playboy” – due to his humor and affable nature, greeting female callers with a “Hello, darlin’ …” Stewart eventually became one of the nation’s first Black radio station owners.
His popularity among white and black radio listeners in the 1950s and 1960s made him a target of the KKK, but it also put him on the radar of civil rights leaders like Fred Shuttlesworth, Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights President Edward Gardner, Rosa Parks and, eventually, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Given his radio audience, Stewart’s voice became an important one in Birmingham and beyond.
“Before 1963, we never heard in the black community the term ‘civil rights,’” he said. “It was ‘the movement.’ … I was supporting the movement meetings. I visited places where others didn’t want to go. I went to the shot houses, barbecue joints and fish fries in a 70-mile radius (of Birmingham). I was known in these communities.”
In 1967, Stewart co-founded Steiner Advertising, now known as O2ideas. During the advertising and public relation firm’s formative years, Stewart didn’t want clients to know a Black man was running the business. He let his white business partner handle client meetings and contracts. The firm’s reach proved to be global, with clients ranging from major supermarket and department store chains to Honda. Stewart even handled public relations for famed signer Otis Redding.
Stewart retired in 2002, but his work has continued in other forms. He wrote two books, “The Road South: A Memoir,” and “Mattie C.’s Boy: The Shelley Stewart Story.” In 2007, he founded the Mattie C. Stewart Foundation, which focuses on reducing the dropout rate among high school students.
It’s his way of using his own experience to advance the legacy of Dr. King.
“What Martin said is that love is the key, understanding is the key, education is a must,” Stewart said.
Stewart was asked by an AUM student what advice he would offer to younger generations in order to build on the foundation laid by the civil rights movement. Stewart said it’s important to seek common ground and to be open to knowledge.
“Anger is one letter away from danger,” he said. “Get the anger away from you. … I believe it takes both the black and the white keys on the piano to play the Star-Spangled Banner.”
Apply for the Graduate Study Merit Scholarship
If you’re a current graduate student who has completed at least nine course hours and possess a GPA of 3.4 or better, you may be eligible to receive the 2024-2025 Graduate Study Merit Scholarship offered by the AUM Alumni Association.
To apply for the scholarship, submit the following documents to [email protected] (include “Scholarship Committee, AUM Alumni Association” in the subject line) by March 15:
- Your graduate GPA
- Two letters of support, preferably from AUM faculty or staff (on AUM official letterhead), emphasizing leadership attributes
- A 250-word essay outlining the applicant’s educational and career objectives, academic honors/civic activities, and how the award will benefit them.
Warhawks travel for GSC matchup
AUM’s men’s and women’s basketball teams will be on the road this week. The Warhawks will visit Alabama-Huntsville for a Gulf South Conference doubleheader on Saturday, Jan. 20. The women will tip off at 2 p.m., followed by the men at 4 p.m.
AUM’s men’s and women’s tennis teams will visit NCAA Division I Troy for a pair of exhibition matches on Friday at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Discovering communication, theatre, language and the arts
AUM will welcome high school juniors and seniors to campus on Saturday, Jan. 27, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. for Communication, Theatre, Fine Arts, English & Philosophy Recruiting Day.
Faculty from each program area will conduct workshops and meet with prospective students and their parents. Staff will be available to discuss financial aid, housing and more.
The event is open to prospective students interested in Communication, Journalism, Public Relations, Theatre, Graphic Design, Painting and Drawing, Photography, Sculpture, Visual Art, Art History, English, Creative Writing, Professional & Technical Writing and Philosophy.
Get updates on campus events
There’s an easy way to keep up with all of the fun events offered on our campus. Enroll in AUM365 and get the 4-1-1 from Curtiss The Warhawk himself. Text curti$$ to 334-398-6025 to receive reminders about upcoming happening.
