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In a few days, we will witness a black man being sworn in as President of the United States for the first time ever. That's enough to make me smile as I write this. But as we all know, this wouldn't have had a chance of happening without years of struggle and suffering on the part of many famed, and unsung heroes.
But he lived in the shadow of many other civil rights greats because of his sexual orientation (gay) his political orientation (socialist) and his religious orientation (atheist), not something that would have helped popularize a movement of people that eschewed those perspectives. ...
Check out a clip from a documentary on his life, and learn more about him and his role in the movement.
Comments: (10)
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By: bert53628330 on 1/17/2009 12:20AM
i have a 1968 MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. JET MAGAZINE
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By: EMarbles24 on 1/17/2009 1:26PM
Bayard Rustin is from my hometown. I'm suprised more people haven't heard about him. Not only was he on the forfront of the Civil Rights Movement, he was also involved in unionism.
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By: DARETODREAM3 on 1/17/2009 6:04PM
Bayard Rustin was a hero of the Civil Rights Movement period!
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By: shequita06 on 1/17/2009 7:42PM
I remember Mr. Rustin so vividly from Dr. Martin Luther King movie. I always wondered why he didn't get proper due for helping and coming into the movement and giving his advice.
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By: News and Other on 1/17/2009 8:28PM
Hi Folks;
I'm surprised more White folks aren't honoring Dr. King. This was one GREAT human being who deserves all the honor he can get from ALL of the human race.
Let me tell you briefly why I honor him. I would have NEVER gotten to go to college if it hadn't have been for his work and sacrifice. I would have probably been stuck in some dead end job intead. I grew up with a learning disability, and at the time I was being educated as a child and teenager, well it was before the days of mainstreaming. We were placed in isolated (segregated) classrooms and not even allowed to interact with "normal"students during recess or lunch break. The concensus at the time is that since we had no real intellectual gifts, we would never amount to anything other than menial workers ... so the practice continued. Until Martin Luther King and others started challenging the whole idea of segregation and discimination. Blacks were first to benefit from his work, then women ... and finally the disabled only a few years ago with the Americans with Disabilities act. But it wásn't this, but Brown vs. Board of Education that ended the segregation of the disabled. Within a few years of Blacks being desegregated, the special education system was redone and those students are now able to benefit from the social interaction that should have been theirs years ago! As a result of being mainstreamed in my last year in high school ... I was able to pursue a two year college degree and now am working on a four year degree. God Bless Martin Luther King and may this man rest in peace!
Lynn in New Orleans
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By: kimmeyson on 1/18/2009 1:30AM
The reason Mr. Rustin never got his deserved recognition is because he was gay.
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By: mcobb123 on 1/18/2009 3:30AM
One of the many things, I believe that Martin Luther King, Jr. would want today, if he were still alive, would be truth taught in our schools. As many of us know, the fact that Native Americans (Muskogee, Cherokee, Seminole, Choctaw, Chickasaw etc) owned African American slaves is not taught in our schools and this must be changed. As a country we can only unite when bias is removed from our state funded educational institutions.
Here are a few books for open-minded people to read:
1) Black Indian Slave Narratives by Patrick Minges
2) Africans and Seminoles: From Removal to Emancipation by Daniel Littlefield
3) The American Indian as Slaveholder and Secessionist by Annie Heloise Abel
4) Black Indian Geneology Research: African American Ancestors Among the Five Civilized Tribes by Angela Y. Walton-Raji
5)Red over Black: Black Slavery among the Cherokee Indians by R. Halliburton
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By: jeff simpson on 1/19/2009 10:53AM
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By: gay rights now on 1/19/2009 12:34PM
Rustin's sexuality is a significant reminder that the civil rights movement must continue and must envision an inclusive world where LGBT people of color (and LGBT whites) are granted the same rights as their straight counterparts and treated with the dignity and respect all human beings deserve. Rustin stood behind King, supported him, and influenced his teaching. Who will stand behind Rustin and his LGBT brothers and sisters?
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By: lee on 3/04/2009 7:07AM
rustin wasn't an atheist. he was a quaker and pacifist.
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