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Bayard Rustin played a key role in the black civil rights
movement, but because he was a gay man, he was forced to work below the radar.
Subsequently, most Americans are not familiar with him. But all Americans
should know and learn from his contributions to equality.
Rustin began his civil rights work in the early 1940s and led
the very first Freedom Ride through the south in 1947. A follower of Ghandi,
Rustin publicly advocated non-violent protest, which he would later make a
centerpiece of Dr. Martin Luther King’s strategy.
After arriving in Montgomery, Alabama in February of 1956
during the midst of MLK’s campaign to end bus segregation, Rustin began
strategizing how to raise King’s national profile and looked for opportunities
for him to address the nation. Though Rustin was a key organizer of the 1963
March on Washington, he had distanced himself from Dr. King by then to prevent
a threatened smear campaign based on Rustin’s sexual orientation.
Below we have collected three clips that shed further light
on his life, accomplishments, and contributions: two from the 2005 documentary Out
of the Past and the trailer for the 2010 documentary Brother
Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin.
On January 16th we will remember and celebrate the life of
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We should also do the same for Bayard Rustin.
SOURCE: GAY DOT NET
Such repressive times! This was a man who truly MATTERED in our history! Sad that he was forced to take a quiet back seat in the struggle when his heart, soul & spirit were so essential to the movement.
ReplyDeleteHis life would make a fascinating film.
One.
MOANERPLICITY: I WISHED I KNEW OF HIM BEFORE NOW.
ReplyDelete