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Bayard Rustin

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr – Gandhi & Rustin

Jan 17th, 2011
by Frank.
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Fading Ad Campaign – © Frank H. Jump

Gandhi and Rustin

With assistance from the Quaker group the American Friends Service Committee and inspired by Gandhi’s success with non-violent activism, King visited Gandhi’s birthplace in India in 1959.  The trip to India affected King in a profound way, deepening his understanding of non-violent resistance and his commitment to America’s struggle for civil rights. In a radio address made during his final evening in India, King reflected, “Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity. In a real sense, Mahatma Gandhi embodied in his life certain universal principles that are inherent in the moral structure of the universe, and these principles are as inescapable as the law of gravitation.”

 

African American civil rights activist Bayard Rustin had studied Gandhi’s teachings.  Rustin counseled King to dedicate himself to the principles of non-violence,  served as King’s main advisor and mentor throughout his early activism,  and was the main organizer of the 1963 March on Washington. Rustin’s open homosexuality, support of democratic socialism, and his former ties to the Communist Party USA caused many white and African-American leaders to demand King distance himself from Rustin. – Wikipedia

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr & Bayard Rustin – deeppencil dot com

Before meeting King, Rustin was a founder of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) which was formed in 1942.

CORE was conceived as a Pacifist organization based on the writings of Henry David Thoreau and modeled after Mohandas Gandhi’s non-violent resistance against British rule in India.

These principles of non-violence became the backbone of the SCLC and the personal philosophy of Dr King.

Black History Month – Remembering Bayard Rustin – New play based on biography – Lost Prophet

Feb 1st, 2010
by Frank.
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© Frank H. Jump

Bayard Rustin’s life is depicted in a new play and a biography by John D’Emilio. – Amazon dot com

Check out the details of the new play at Jeff Kelly Lowenstein’s blog.

Wondering if Harold Ford of Tennessee will be in attendance?

CLICK HERE FOR OTHER BAYARD RUSTIN POSTINGS

– – – Adam Clayton Powell was a homophobe! – – – Marlon Riggs: Black Is, Black Ain't – Deconstruction to Reconstruction: Marlon Riggs & Blackness

Jan 18th, 2010
by Frank.
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Remembering Bayard Rustin on MLK Day - © Frank H. Jump

Previously posted on Fading Ad Campaign website.

Adam Clayton Powell threatened to spread a rumor that Bayard Rustin & Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr were having an affair unless King fired Rustin from his integral leadership position in the Civil Rights Movement. Bayard went on to organize the August 28, 1963 March on Washington at A. Phillip Randolph’s insistence.

LINKS:

Bayard Rustin: Gay Man in the Civil Rights Movement.

Jan 7th, 2010
by fadingad.
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The man behind the man: Bayard Rustin & the pivotal role he played in Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s success.

Lost Histories : Bayard Rustin
– Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

February is Black History Month – Don't Forget Our LGBTQ African-Americans

Feb 1st, 2009
by fadingad.
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2007 US Commemorative Stamps Honoring Lesbian & Gay African-Americans © Frank H. Jump

2007 US Commemorative Stamps Honoring Lesbian & Gay African-Americans © Frank H. Jump

Audre Lorde – Audrey Geraldine Lorde was born on February 18, 1934 in New York City. She decided to drop the “y” from the end of her name at a young age, setting a precedent in her life of self determination. She was the daughter of Caribbean immigrants who settled in Harlem. She graduated from Columbia University and Hunter College, where she later held the prestigious post of Thomas Hunter Chair of Literature. She was married for eight years in the 1960’s, and had two children — Elizabeth and Jonathan. Lorde was a self described “Black lesbian, mother, warrior, poet”. However, her life was one that could not be summed up in a phrase.¹

James Baldwin – James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – November 30, 1987) was an American novelist, writer, playwright, poet, essayist, and civil rights activist. Most of Baldwin’s work deals with racial and sexual issues in the mid-20th century United States. His novels are notable for the personal way in which they explore questions of identity as well as for the way in which they mine complex social and psychological pressures related to being black and homosexual well before the social, cultural or political equality of these groups could be assumed.²

Bayard Rustin – (March 17, 1912 – August 24, 1987) was an American civil rights activist, important largely behind the scenes in the civil rights movement of the 1960s and earlier, and principal organizer of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. He counseled Martin Luther King, Jr. on the techniques of nonviolent resistance. Rustin was openly gay and advocated on behalf of gay and lesbian causes in the latter part of his career. A year before his death in 1987, Rustin said: “The barometer of where one is on human rights questions is no longer the black community, it’s the gay community. Because it is the community which is most easily mistreated.”³

Barbara Jordan – Barbara Charline Jordan (February 21, 1936 – January 17, 1996) was an American politician from Texas. She served as a congresswoman in the United States House of Representatives from 1973 to 1979. Jordan was a lesbian with a longtime companion of more than 20 years, Nancy Earl; Jordan never publicly acknowledged her sexual orientation, but in her obituary, the Houston Chronicle mentioned her longtime relationship with Earl. After Jordan’s initial unsuccessful statewide races, advisers warned her to become more discreet and not bring any female companions on the campaign trail.↑

Previously posted on February 1, 2008

Lesbian & Gay African-Americans – Tribute to Black History Month – U.S. Commemorative Stamps – Frank H. Jump

Feb 1st, 2008
by fadingad.
Comments are off for this post

Lesbian & Gay African-American US Commemorative Stamps - Frank H. Jump
© Frank H. Jump

Audre Lorde – Audrey Geraldine Lorde was born on February 18, 1934 in New York City. She decided to drop the “y” from the end of her name at a young age, setting a precedent in her life of self determination. She was the daughter of Caribbean immigrants who settled in Harlem. She graduated from Columbia University and Hunter College, where she later held the prestigious post of Thomas Hunter Chair of Literature. She was married for eight years in the 1960’s, and had two children — Elizabeth and Jonathan. Lorde was a self described “Black lesbian, mother, warrior, poet”. However, her life was one that could not be summed up in a phrase.¹

James Baldwin – James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – November 30, 1987) was an American novelist, writer, playwright, poet, essayist, and civil rights activist. Most of Baldwin’s work deals with racial and sexual issues in the mid-20th century United States. His novels are notable for the personal way in which they explore questions of identity as well as for the way in which they mine complex social and psychological pressures related to being black and homosexual well before the social, cultural or political equality of these groups could be assumed.²

Bayard Rustin – (March 17, 1912 – August 24, 1987) was an American civil rights activist, important largely behind the scenes in the civil rights movement of the 1960s and earlier, and principal organizer of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. He counseled Martin Luther King, Jr. on the techniques of nonviolent resistance. Rustin was openly gay and advocated on behalf of gay and lesbian causes in the latter part of his career. A year before his death in 1987, Rustin said: “The barometer of where one is on human rights questions is no longer the black community, it’s the gay community. Because it is the community which is most easily mistreated.”³

Barbara Jordan – Barbara Charline Jordan (February 21, 1936 – January 17, 1996) was an American politician from Texas. She served as a congresswoman in the United States House of Representatives from 1973 to 1979. Jordan was a lesbian with a longtime companion of more than 20 years, Nancy Earl; Jordan never publicly acknowledged her sexual orientation, but in her obituary, the Houston Chronicle mentioned her longtime relationship with Earl. After Jordan’s initial unsuccessful statewide races, advisers warned her to become more discreet and not bring any female companions on the campaign trail.↑