Brother Outsider illuminates the public and private lives of Bayard Rustin\, a visionary a ctivist and strategist who has been called &ldquo\;the invisible man&rdquo \; of the civil rights movement. \; A tireless crusader for justice\, a disciple of Gandhi\, a mentor to Martin Luther King\, Jr.\, and the arch itect of the legendary 1963 March on Washington\, Rustin dared to live as an openly gay man during the fiercely homophobic 1940s\, 1950s and 1960s.& nbsp\; Brother Outsider reveals the price that Rustin paid for this honest y\, chronicling both the setbacks and triumphs of his remarkable 60-year c areer.
\nIn November 2013\, \; President Barack Obama posthumous ly awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Bayard Rustin. \;
\ nWe will watch the 84-minute film together\, then enjoy a Q and A sessi on with Rustin&rsquo\;s partner Walter Naegle\, not so co incidentally a graduate of Roxbury High School.
\n< strong>About Bayard Rustin: Bayard Rustin was a brilliant strateg ist\, pacifist\, and forward-thinking civil rights activist during the mid dle of the 20th century. In 1947 as a member of the Fellowship of Reconcil iation\, Rustin planned the "Journey of Reconciliation"\, which would be u sed as a model for the Freedom Rides of the 1960's. He served as a mentor to Martin Luther King\, Jr. in the practice of nonviolent civil resistance \, and was an intellectual and organizational force behind the burgeoning civil rights movement during the 1950s and 1960s. He organized protests in England and studied Ghandian principles in India. His life as an openly g ay man\, however\, put him at odds with the cultural norms of the larger s ociety and left him either working behind the scenes or outside of the mov ement for stretches of time.
\nBorn 1912 in West Chester\, Pennsylva nia\, Rustin was raised a Quaker and his family was engaged in civil right s activism. He attended Wilberforce University\, Cheney State Teachers Col lege\, and City College of New York. A charismatic man\, he earned a livin g as a spiritual singer in nightclubs while living in New York City. He to ok a brief interest in the Communist movement and was a life-long pacifist \, due to his Quaker upbringing. His commitment to civil and human rights came at a personal cost. He was arrested multiple times and twice went to jail.
\nIn the 1940s he met A. Philip Randolph and worked with him o n various proposed marches on Washington\, D.C. to protest segregation in the armed forces and the defense industry. Because of their experiences to gether\, when Randolph was name to head the March on Washington for Jobs a nd Freedom in 1963\, he appointed Rustin as Deputy Director and overall lo gistical planner. In 1947\, Rustin and George Houser\, executive secretary of CORE\, organized the Journey of Reconciliation which was the first of the Freedom Rides. The Rides were intended to test the U.S. Supreme Court' s ban on racial discrimination in interstate travel. Rustin was arrested f or violating state laws regarding segregated seating on public transportat ion and served twenty-two days on a chain gang.
\nWith the passage o f the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965\, his tal ents and tireless work were transferred to human rights and the gay rights movement. In the 1970s and 1980s he worked as a human rights and election monitor for Freedom House and also testified on behalf of New York State' s Gay Rights Bill. Bayard Rustin died from a ruptured appendix on August 2 4\, 1987 at the age of 75. \; In November 2013\, President Barack Obam a posthumously awarded Rustin the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
\nH osted by Common Grounds and Roxbury Public Library.
\nCommon Grounds is a local 501(c)3 and ongoing series that explores and facilitates civil conversation on race\, political beliefs\, gender\, cree d and more\, celebrating diversity in Roxbury. \; Presentations in par tnership with Roxbury Public Library since September 2020 have included a virtual workshop Skills for Bridging the Political Divide through Braver A ngels\, community panels on women and leadership\, and a local panel On Ra ce and Racism: A Roxbury Conversation\, and Black History: From Civil War to Black Lives Matter\, Allyship and Inclusion\, a discussion on the film &ldquo\;Brian Banks&rdquo\; and Black People&rsquo\;s Incarceration\, Unle arning False Racial Myths\, a LGBTQ+ Living/Personal History Panel\, an LG BTQ+ panel on pronouns\, acronyms and gender identity\, and substantial ce lebrations in honor of Juneteenth\, Hispanic Heritage Month (La Fiesta)\, and Black History Month.
\nRegister online or by calling Roxbury Lib rary at (973) 584-2400.
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