By SPEAKIN’ OUT NEWS
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Bishop Calvin Woods Sr., the longtime pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church in Norwood and a veteran of the Civil Rights Movement who marched alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, has died at age 91.
His grandson, Pastor Mike McClure Jr. of Rock City Church, confirmed the news Sunday morning. Woods would have turned 92 on Sept. 13.
“My heart is heavy today,” McClure wrote. “My grandfather, Bishop Calvin Woods, has gone home to be with the Lord. He was more than family to me. He was a trailblazer, a freedom fighter, and a faithful servant of God who gave his life to the cause of justice and the Kingdom.”
Born in Birmingham on Sept. 13, 1933, Woods graduated from Parker High School in 1950 and soon became a voice for change. In 1956, he was jailed for six months for protesting Birmingham’s segregated bus system, the first of many arrests tied to his activism.
On April 3, 1963, Woods was among 20 Black protesters arrested during sit-ins at whites-only lunch counters. Reflecting on those demonstrations in a 2023 interview, he said:
“We were dramatizing how we could spend our money there, but they didn’t want us to be treated like first-class citizens.”
Woods later marched with King and Abernathy, took part in the March on Washington, and led demonstrations after police violence in Birmingham.
Following the death of his brother, Rev. Abraham Woods Jr., he became president of the Birmingham chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), serving until 2021. He also held national leadership roles in the SCLC and the New Era Baptist State Convention.
Woods pastored East End Baptist Church from 1960 to 1974 before leading Shiloh Baptist Church, where he served for more than 40 years.
Even in recent years, he urged nonviolence and faith.
“Love will conquer all,” Woods said. “You’ve got to keep on using the same weapon of nonviolence. That’s the route we’ve got to take.”