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Published on the centennial of his birth, and in anticipation of the 50th anniversary of the historic March on Washington, here is Bayard Rustin’s life story told in his own words.
Bayard Rustin has been called the “lost prophet” of the civil rights movement. A master strategist and tireless activist, he is best remembered as the organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, one of the largest nonviolent protests ever held in the U.S. He brought Gandhi’s protest techniques to the American civil rights movement and played a deeply influential role in the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., helping to mold him into an international symbol of nonviolence.
Despite these achievements, Rustin often remained in the background. He 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.
Here we have Rustin in his own words in a collection of over 150 of his letters; his correspondents include the major progressives of his day — for example, Eleanor Holmes Norton, A. Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, Ella Baker, and of course, Martin Luther King, Jr.
Bayard Rustin’s eloquent, impassioned voice, his ability to chart the path “from protest to politics,” is both timely and deeply informative. As the Occupy movement ushers America into a pivotal election year, and as politicians and citizens re-assess their goals and strategies, these letters provide direct access to the strategic thinking and tactical planning that led to the successes of one of America’s most transformative and historic social movements.
Foreword Julian Bond ix
Introduction: Resisting the Shadows Michael G. Long xiii
A Note on the Text xxv
1 "War Is Wrong": 1942-1944 1
2 "One Ought to Resist the Entire System": March-August, 1944 15
3 "I Am a Traitor": August-December, 1944 41
4 "Until Every Effort Is Made, I Am Less Than a Man": January-August, 1945 58
5 "I Am Needed on the Outside": November 1945-June, 1946 79
6 "A Small, Interracial, Disciplined Group … to Test Jim Crow": July 1946-December, 1947 88
7 "To Fight for the United States Army Is to Fight for Bigotry": 1948-1949 110
8 "Let Us Resist with Our Whole Beings": 1950-1952 127
9 "For Me Sex Must Be Sublimated": 1953-1955 149
10 "This Is an Effort to Avoid War-Race War": 1956-1957 164
11 "Crisis Is at Hand for Civil Rights"-and Africa: 1958-1959 201
12 "BayardWas Crushed": 1960-1962 227
13 "An Enormous Success": 1963 254
14 "A Very Central Figure in the Civil Rights Movement": 1964-1965 285
15 "The Freedom Budget for All Americans": 1966-1967 314
16 "A Fantastic Vacuum": 1968-1969 340
17 "More Black Than Cleaver": 1970-1975 367
18 "These People, Mr. President, Desperately Need Our Help": 1976-1979 406
19 "InsteadofaMarch": 1980-1983 427
20 "Bayard Rustin-Oh, What a Life!": 1984-1987 442
Notes 478
Location of Letters 493
Acknowledgments 501
Index 504
Overview
Published on the centennial of his birth, and in anticipation of the 50th anniversary of the historic March on Washington, here is Bayard Rustin’s life story told in his own words.
Bayard Rustin has been called the “lost prophet” of the civil rights movement. A master strategist and tireless activist, he is best remembered as the organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, one of the largest nonviolent protests ever held in the U.S. He brought Gandhi’s protest techniques to the ...