Remembering Bayard Rustin

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From The Advocate:

Bayard Rustin’s contributions to the world far outweighed his credits – and his 100th birthday is an opportunity to appreciate how his lifelong fights for equality live on today.

Rustin was the key strategist in every campaign waged by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the architect of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and a passionate advocate for pacifism, workers’ rights, and freedom for marginalized peoples around the world. There is not one American movement for social change that his leadership did not touch.

Rights to vote, to join a union, or to marry the person one loves are today at the forefront of the struggle to build an America that reflects its ideals. And Rustin was reliably positioned at the vanguard of these battles from the 1930s until his passing in 1987. So it’s only appropriate that we take this opportunity to pause and reflect on where our movements have traveled over 100 years and to look ahead to our future.

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  • KayWhitlock

    Important to remember, too, that Bayard Rustin was a huge champion for economic justice when red-baiting was widespread.  His politics were always intersectional.  He was the moral force at the center of the Quaker/American Friends Service Committee’s publication, “Speak Truth to Power,” in 1955 – a document that foresaw a national security state.  Yet he was not credited for that document – by his own request because he believed his gayness would be used to discredit the entire work.  As it was, his central involvement with that effort was made possible only because Steve Carey, who later would lead the organization, championed him against stiff internal opposition. 
     
    Regrettably, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) worked hard to disassociate from him earlier on, when he was arrested in Pasadena on a morals involving alleged sex with two younger white men.  At the time, he was working for the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR).  Both AFSC and FOR are faith-based groups witnessing for social justice, peace, and humanitarian service.  FOR removed him from the staff.
     
    Yes, it was in the 1950s, but this is a powerful illustration of how even liberal/progressive groups failed to stand with queers and, on occasion, others who became the targets of McCarthy-type campaigns of political persecution. 
     
    When I worked for AFSC (I served in different staff capacities), as the then 50th anniversary of the publication of “Speak Truth to Power” approached, I advocated strongly and continually for printing a new edition and organizing an event that at long last told the full truth about Rustin’s involvement and honored him.  It would also permit AFSC to speak publicly about the period when they disavowed him – a public moment of self-reflection and accountability that could have served as a model.
     
    It did not happen. 
     
    Now, there is a pdf of “Speak Truth to Power” on the AFSC website and you can read it with a 2012 note about Bayard Rustin’s involvement. Apparently, AFSC only truly acknowledged him once there was more general acknowledgment of him, and queer writers and filmmakers had made sure his legacy in so many justice arenas would be acknowledged.  (If I sound angry – I am.  While I am pleased AFSC is at long last acknowledging his contribution, I note that it is years after the organization ended all of its LGBT programming.)  
     
    Speak Truth to Power pdf here:
     
    http://afsc.org/category/topic/publications

    •  @KayWhitlock Sigh
       
      thanks for that crucial history and always — a reminder Kay

    • David Johansing

       @KayWhitlock 
      I know it’s been three months since you wrote this, but I wanted to let you know that the AFSC in San Francisco is focusing the Sam Cox Youth Internship on Bayard Rustin and the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.  The project is a high school education module about Bayard Rustin, and it will NOT exclude Rustin’s sexuality. I’m actually the intern, the name’s David, and I have been told that there’s a green light for including gay rights and critical social examination of sexual orientation in addition to Rustin’s passions for labor rights, non-violence, and his organizational legacy.  This is something that will hopefully be used in public schools as well as First Day lessons.
      Wish me luck!
      -David