The three photos above are all of the same man.
Bayard Rustin was a multifaceted gem. A Quaker, a black American, a pacifist, a gay man who “ain’t never heard of no closet,” a Communist, a civil rights organizer, the eminence gris to Dr. King, a gay rights activist, a devoted boyfriend to his partner Walter Naegle, a singer, a writer. Most of those things got him jailed, ostracized, or beaten at least once in his long, long life.
God help me, I have tried to tell his story about six times here. I’ve not sat in as many Quaker meetings as Bayard Rustin, but I’ve sat in enough to know when vocal ministry isn’t mine to give. Guided by his inner Light, that of God in every soul born into this world, black, white, young, old, Anglo, franco, every soul, he tried to fuse the Quaker peace testimony, the socialism of A. Phillip Randolph, and the nonviolent resistance of Mahatma Gandhi to resist oppression everywhere and for every soul.
Here’s a man who absolutely lived his truth, without compromises, and shows us how we can do likewise.
If you can’t get a hold of Lost Prophet or Time on Two Crosses, listen first to the man in his own words.
Then, let Christina Greer give you a sketch of his story.
Rest in Peace, Friend Bayard.
Almost makes me cry, but might be pms. Cry in a good way like I always do in the middle of Nonstop when Burr mentions how much Hamilton wrote. I wish I could’ve met him. What an amazing man.