Bayard Rustin: The Invisible Activist

by Jacqueline Houtman, Walter Naegle, Michael G. Long · 2014

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We need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers. - Bayard Rustin

To many, the Civil Rights Movement brings to mind protests, marches, boycotts, and freedom rides. They often think of people like Martin Luther King or Rosa Parks. They seldom think of Bayard Rustin.

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Raised by his Quaker grandmother to believe in the value of every human being, Bayard made trouble where ever he saw injustice. As a teenager, he was arrested for sitting in the whites only section of a theater. More arrests followed, for protesting against segregation, discrimination, and war. His belief in nonviolent action as a means for social change gave him a guiding vision for the Civil Rights Movement, which he used to mentor the young Martin Luther King, Jr. When A. Philip Randolph needed the best organizer on the planet, he turned to Bayard Rustin to bring 250,000 people to the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Illustrated with over sixty photos, this book is the product of a unique collaboration between three authors: Bayard's partner of ten years, a professor of religious studies, and a children's book author. Though he is largely ignored in history books, Bayard's ideas and actions will inspire today's young (and not-so-young) readers to be angelic troublemakers.

Subject
historyhistoryMore like thisLess of thisbiographybiographyMore like thisLess of this
Genre
LGBTLGBTMore like thisLess of this
Themes
civil rightscivil rightsMore like thisLess of thissocial justicesocial justiceMore like thisLess of thisLGBTLGBTMore like thisLess of this
Setting
20th century20th centuryMore like thisLess of thisUSAUSAMore like thisLess of this
Audience
adult

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Liked Bayard Rustin: The Invisible Activist? Here’s where I’d start.

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“If it was the civil rights that hooked you, try one of these.”

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“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

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