BGG Black History Month Spotlight: Bayard Rustin |

BGG Black History Month Spotlight: Bayard Rustin
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February 3rd, 2010www.blackgaygossip.comBlack History Month Spotlight, Celebrities, Culture, Politics

Bayard Rustin. You may not know his name but you should. He was a major figure behind the scenes during the civil rights movement of the 1960’s in the United States. He counseled Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on techniques of non-violence. In fact, Bayard Rustin was the organizer of Dr. King’s 1963 March on Washington, wherein Dr. King gave his ever so revered “I Have A Dream” speech. The organization of an event of that magnitude was no easy feat, yet, few members of the African-American community even know his name, furthermore credit him for the role he played. Bayard Rustin’s sexuality was hardly a secret. Yet, he often held a low-key presence as to not distract the message of the movement or give the “haters” of that time fodder for their subversive agenda.

His humanitarian work did not begin with the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement. His activism included: planned protests to end racial discrimination in the armed forces; protection of property rights for Japanese-Americans in internment camps; assistance in the formation of Congress of Racial Equality (CORE); while imprisoned for peaceful protests from 1944 to 1946, he organized protests against segregated dining facilities; during his 1940’s incarceration, he also organized Fellowship of Reconciliation’s Free India Committee and in 1947, he organized Journey of Reconciliation, the first of the Freedom Rides. This list is in no way exhaustive, merely a snapshot of his contribution to American History.

Bayard Rustin: human rights activist and accomplished vocalist – in the shadows no more.

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5 Responses to “BGG Black History Month Spotlight: Bayard Rustin”

wiz4ard February 4th, 2010 at 1:35 am

Wow, this is great! I had not heard of him before. I will definitely look him up.
BlackBetty February 4th, 2010 at 11:33 am

I’m really looking forward to more unsung Black heros this month. Keep em coming!
Kel February 4th, 2010 at 11:42 pm

I wonder what kind of gay man he was and what he would think of the progress or lack of progress we have made as gay people today.

Would he approve of so many young boys running around pretending to be women instead of being MEN who love other men? What would he think of the cross dressing and the makeup wearing and finger popping and lip smacking and other dramatics….? Just curious.
Aciid Purpl3ite February 5th, 2010 at 2:49 am

Don’t judge people Kel. That’s not cool. All this division ain’t gonna help when we have a long way to go as an LGBT community. There have been crossdressers since forever, even in his time. What makes a man or a woman constantly changes. High heels used to be male attire; Pink used to be a boys color. Let’s not judge based on a social construct.

Otherwise, more people need to know who he is. It’s sad. MLK has a day but people don’t know who he is, even though I doubt MLK could do it without him.
Kel February 6th, 2010 at 9:43 am

I hear you Aciid and I agree that we are all different and its not cool to judge. That is something that I am working on. Truth be told I am, as we all are, a product of my environment and upbringing. I was raised during a time and in an environment where it was cool for men (gay or straight) to behave more masculine than feminine. Today the opposite exists. My fathers, brothers and the men around me didn’t switch harder than the women they passed on the street and didn’t clutch the pearls with dramatic flair at least once during every conversation. Even the GAY men in my life were and are still masculine.

Today when you see gay men on the television all you see is feminine acting and dressing men. To me its a huge stereotype and it saddens me because little boys who are gay see this and think this is what it means to be gay. I guess that goes back to my whole point of being a product of your environment. I have several gay young nephews and every one of them talks, walks and behaves similar. We love them and support them and wouldn’t be surprised to see any of them in heels at some point. I am not encouraging anyone to be ashamed of who they are, NO. That’s not my point. But children are most impressionable and seeing one type of gay man on television all the time HAS to have an effect.

Aciid you are also right that division will not help us when we do have a long way to go as an LBGT community and my comment is not to vilify. We could walk around pretending we are all of one mind but I don’t think that will help much. In my humble opinion its wiser to embrace our differences (even differences of opinion) and engage in dialogue that will help us to understand each other better and move forward together.

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