Thursday, June 2, 2011

☞ REMEMBER: Bayard Rustin


Harlem's gay past probably is one of the most overlooked in its 20th century history and activist Bayard Rustin has been left out of much of the Civil Rights Era dialogue in modern times.  The above clip shows how the Harlem organizer was key in getting Dr. Martin Luther King introduced to the national forefront but was eventually removed because another known politician orchestrated a threat of scandal. This ten minute documentary provides a great insight on the local politics of the time and how Bayard Rustin eventually helped mobilize the masses to march on Washington.

2 comments:

  1. This is especially trenchant given that Harlem’s “religious leaders” are in a tizzy about Harlem Pride. These mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragging hypocrites (starting with “Dr.” Ron Ferguson of the Antioch “Church” of God) seem to think that civil rights struggles begin and end with African-American Christians. These intolerant rubes, who actively seek to take away the civil liberties of others in the name of “religion” urgently need a wake up call, letting them know that the 21st Century has actually dawned. Bayard Rustin and MLK are not rolling in their graves over this – they’re on a rotisserie!

    ReplyDelete