Bayard Rustin (1912 - 1987)

Names Index:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
| Authors Index | Scholars Index |

Bayard Rustin : Troubles I've Seen : A Biography by Jervis Anderson

The famous "I Have a Dream" speech delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the 1963 March on Washington is deservedly remembered as the most potent moment of the civil rights struggle, but Bayard Rustin was the behind-the-scenes architect of that historic event. Rustin "had made significant contributions to a number of movements for African freedom and to the global struggle for human rights," Jervis Anderson notes, but "achieved no significant power in his career. Part of the reason was the breadth and variety of his political involvements." Rustin was a conscientious objector to World War II, worked with the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation, participated in A. Phillip Randolph's 1941 Washington protest march, and was a founding member of the Congress of Racial Equality. But another reason for his comparative obscurity is that many of his colleagues feared that public knowledge of his homosexuality would undermine the broader civil rights movement.

Anderson skillfully uncovers Rustin's complicated history, from his West Chester, Pennsylvania, birth in 1912 and black Quaker upbringing to his ideological move from communism to social democracy, and restores to public memory a vital career in the history of nonviolent social activism. Rustin summarized his philosophy for change by noting that "the major aspect of the struggle comes from without. If one gets out and begins to defend one's rights and the rights of others, spiritual growth takes place. One becomes in the process of doing, in the purifying process of action." --Eugene Holley Jr.

Bayard Rustin : Behind the Scenes of the Civil Rights Movement by James Haskins

With his reputation clouded by the triple whammy of belonging to the Communist Party as a young man, being a homosexual, and being repeatedly imprisoned, Bayard Rustin is relatively unknown even though his organizational skills and commitment to nonviolent protest shaped the civil rights movement. In exploring the life and work of this African American leader, Haskins highlights and personalizes 50 years of American history in which black people fought for and attained protection for their civil rights. The author adeptly seeks out the forces that shaped Rustin's beliefs--among them, his grandmother who raised him as a Quaker--and describes the evolution of Rustin's political activism. Sensitive to hatred of all kinds, Rustin remained dedicated to nonviolence throughout his life, spending years in prison for refusing to fight in World War II and eventually teaching Gandhi's principles of nonviolence as a protest tactic to Martin Luther King Jr. The leader's crowning achievement was organizing the 1963 March on Washington. Haskins not only gives enough personal information to flesh out his subject (Rustin was a talented musician and skilled collector) but also presents each historical event with nuance, fairness, and clarity. Obviously an excellent resource for reports, this is also a moving, inspirational story. Susan Dove Lempke

Bayard Rustin - a Personal Tribute

By Norman Hill, September 1, 1987

Excerpt:

When Bayard Rustin died so unexpectedly on August 24, I lost a cherished compatriot and long-time friend. The black community lost a legendary and tenacious tactician and organizer whose fearless devotion to principle and direct action laid the monumental building blocks that, piled one on top of the other, made the civil rights movement the powerful moral juggernaut that changed the nation. American workers lost a tireless warrior for social and economic justice. And the world lost a passionate and outspoken advocate of freedom and democracy who, at an age when most men would have retired, crisscrossed the globe to confront injustice and defend the oppressed, be it in South Africa, Haiti, Poland, or Chile.

The contributions and sacrifices of this often misunderstood, controversial, and fiercely intellectual man are enough to fill two lifetimes. There wasn't a major civil rights battle in the last four decades in which he did not play a significant role. In the 1940s, he helped organize CORE and worked closely with his mentor, A. Philip Randolph, to secure executive orders ending hiring discrimination in the defense industry and eliminating segregation in the Armed Forces. He took part in a 'journey of Reconciliation" to test enforcement of the 1946 Irene Morgan case decision outlawing discrimination in interstate travel, a protest that was a model of the "freedom rides" of the 1960s. Arrested in North Carolina, he served 30 days in a chain gang, one of over 20 times he was to be arrested for his protest activities...

Bayard Rustin

By Tom Sullivan

Excerpt:

In the early 1940's, Rustin organized local nonviolent direct-action groups which later formed a national organization known as the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). He opposed the violence and bigotry of segregated American institutions with the nonviolent direct action methods of Gandhi.

Rustin organized the "Journey of Reconciliation" in 1947. This "Journey" was taken by an integrated group of people who defied local ordinances banning them on public transit in the South. Rustin was sentenced to a chain gang in North Carolina for his participation. The "Journey of Reconciliation" was the model for the Freedom Rides of the 1960's.

Rustin was involved in the civil rights movement throughout the 1950's. He worked closely with Martin Luther King, Jr . and A. Phillip Randolph in laying the foundations for the movement. Rustin was an instrumental advisor to King in organizing the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1956.

Rustin was the chief organizer and logistics person for the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The 200,000 people who took part in the March have Rustin to thank for the orderly progress on that historic day's events. His passion for detail was of great value to the success of the event. It was at Rustin's urging that Randolph called for the march which culminated in the historic "I Have a Dream" speech by Dr. King. Randolph referred to Rustin as "Mr. March..."

Bayard Rustin

From A. Philip Randolph Institute

Excerpt:

Bayard Rustin was active in the struggle for human rights and economic Justice for over 50 years Born in 1912, he was reared in West Chester, Pennsylvania where he excelled as a student, athlete and musician. He attended Wilberforce University, Cheyney State College, the City College of New York, and the London School of Economics, earning tuition at odd jobs and singing professionally with Josh White's Carolinians and Leadbelly. 

A Quaker, Mr. Rustin placed his religious conviction above his musical interests, and in 1941 began a long association with the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR). Serving as its Race Relations Secretary, he toured the country conducting Race Relations Institutes designed to facilitate communication and understanding between racial groups. He was active in A. Philip Randolph', March on Washington Movement, and became the first field secretary of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). In 1942 he was dispatched to California by the FOR and the American Friends Service Committee to help protect the property of Japanese-Americans held in detention. In 1943, Mr. Rustic was imprisoned in Lewisburg Penitentiary as a conscientious objector...

Editors: John H. Bracey Jr., Sharon Harley, and August Meier

As an organizer, strategist, orator, and writer, Bayard Rustin (1912–1987) was one of the most influential civil rights leaders of his time. His skill at planning protest demonstrations and his insights as a social and political analyst earned him the respect of movement insiders. His role as behind-the-scenes adviser to both A. Philip Randolph and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. allowed him to help shape the course of the modern civil rights struggle for several decades. The publication of UPA’s microfilm edition of The Bayard Rustin Papers enables researchers and scholars of American race relations to assess Rustin’s remarkable career during the nearly half-century that he spent in the civil rights movement.

In 1942, Rustin, a pacifist employed by the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and James Farmer organized local nonviolent direct-action groups that coalesced the following year to form the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). Rustin’s efforts at organizing demonstrations and sit-ins along Gandhian lines reached a climax in 1947, when he participated in an interracial group that sought to test a recent Supreme Court decision outlawing discrimination in interstate travel. This forerunner of the 1961 Freedom Rides was called a Journey of Reconciliation. Sponsored by CORE, the small band traveled as an integrated group on public transit systems in the states of the upper South. On six occasions members of the group were arrested, and in North Carolina Rustin himself was sentenced to a chain gang for his participation in the venture...

Names Index:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
| Authors Index | Scholars Index |