REMEMBER: BAYARD RUSTIN

For Black History Month this year, HB will re-publish some of the archival history posts that some of the newer readers might have missed. Many of the Harlem's historic figures are noted for their accomplishments by historians but little has been preserved uptown to mark their contribution to the neighborhood.  

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.