Bayard Rustin, gay man behind the march on Washington...

[bliss_eternal]

(***Note to mods--crossposted in AA forum)


Just thought it was important that we look at this important and influential man, on MLK's birthday. :hi:

A master strategist and tireless activist, Bayard Rustin is best remembered as the organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, one of the largest nonviolent protests ever held in the United States. He brought Gandhi’s protest techniques to the American civil rights movement, and helped mold Martin Luther King, Jr. into an international symbol of peace and nonviolence.

Despite these achievements, Rustin was silenced, threatened, arrested, beaten, imprisoned and fired from important leadership positions, largely because he was an openly gay man in a fiercely homophobic era. Five years in the making and the winner of numerous awards, BROTHER OUTSIDER presents a feature-length documentary portrait, focusing on Rustin’s activism for peace, racial equality, economic justice and human rights.

Today, the United States is still struggling with many of the issues Bayard Rustin sought to change during his long, illustrious career. His focus on civil and economic rights and his belief in peace, human rights and the dignity of all people remain as relevant today as they were in the 1950s and 60s.

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taken from:

http://www.rustin.org/about.html


Happy MLK Day Everyone!

[burrowowl]

1. K&R

[cboy4]

2. Another hero. ;+

:pals:

[TechBear_Seattle]

3. It wasn't just his homosexuality

Rustin was a member of the Communist Party USA, one of the early 20th century supporters of full, equal rights. During WW II, when Stalin (the nominal head of CPUSA) ordered the group to abandon civil rights to support the war effort, Rustin abandoned the party and began working with anti-Communist socialists. Although he latter left socialism behind to support the Democratic Party, his past affiliation with both the Communists and Socialists dogged him for the rest of his life. (Info from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayard_Rustin)

Rustin never hid his homosexuality: Dr. King knew about it, and Mrs. King used her husband's acceptance as evidence that he would have supported equal rights for gay people. Rustin was also open about his political associations. Both caused him problems through the McCarthy era and Cold War.

[HamdenRice]

4. I wonder whether MLK's and Coretta's church experience of gay men ...

was one of the reason's his homosexuality was tolerated. I hope this doesn't seem like I'm promoting stereotypes. But I grew up in the black church, and it seemed that it was an open secret that many choir directors and musicians were gay men.

Although in recent years, the reaction of the black church to the AIDS crisis was disappointing, it also seemed that an African American pastor and his wife in the closeted 1950s would have had to have been comfortable working with gay men.

[Laughing Mirror]

5. The "lost prophet" and a pioneer

Thanks for remembering him.