Weekly Reflection: Remembering Bayard Rustin With Pride

Jun 8, 2023

June is Pride Month when we lift up the struggles and contributions of the LGBTQ+ community. Bayard Rustin embodied both. He was one of the most important organizers and leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, yet he was often forced to remain behind the scenes because he was gay. To this day, many people are still unfamiliar with his name and contributions. His activism for civil rights predated and helped to lay the foundation for the movement of the 50’s-60’s. During the early days of the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-56, Bayard Rustin went to Montgomery to help a young Martin Luther King, Jr. adopt and practice non-violence as an essential principle of that campaign (see the second photo posted above). Before Rustin arrived, Dr. King had armed body guards and owned a handgun. Rustin helped him to see that any form of violence would be ultimately self-defeating and play into the hands of the oppressors. With Bayard Rustin as a mentor, Dr. King committed to nonviolence not only as a strategy for the campaign but as a way of life consistent with the gospel of Jesus.

Perhaps the most famous event of the modern Civil Rights Movement was the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963 during which Dr. King gave his famous “I Have a Dream Speech.” Bayard Rustin was the primary organizer of the historic event that was the largest demonstration for racial justice in the history of our nation at that time. The cover of Life Magazine following the March did not feature Dr. King. Instead it featured A. Philip Randolph who had the vision for the March and Bayard Rustin who was the main organizer (see the third photo posted above). Yet despite his deep commitment to racial justice and many contributions to the movement, Bayard Rustin was criticized by some within the movement and targeted by opponents of the movement because of his sexual orientation. He continued to organize and advocate for civil and human rights beyond the modern Civil Rights Movement until his death in 1987. President Obama posthumously awarded him the Presidential Metal of Freedom in 2013.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “…you will know them by their fruits.” The “fruits” of the life and witness of Bayard Rustin have benefitted all of us even if you were unfamiliar with him until now. So it is with pride during this Pride Month that we honor and celebrate Bayard Rustin. The two videos posted below provide more information about his life and work. The second video is the trailer to a documentary about him titled “Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin.”