Bayard Rustin was born in
West Chester, Pennsylvania. He was a civil rights activist best known for working with Martin Luther King Jr. and being instrumental in helping to teach him his non violence methods.
Bayard Rustin was one of those in the background people that worked in the Civil Rights movement and helped the gears turn. However for as much as he worked with the movement he was also the victim of its hypocrisy. After working and traveling and being instrumental in helping to plan the 1963 “March on Washington” NAACP Chairman Roy Wilkins did not allow Rustin to receive any public acknowledgment of his work in planning the historic march because Rustin was gay. Bayard spent the rest of his activist career after the passing of the civil rights and voting acts working in politics and as an advocate for black and gay rights. He passed in August in 1987.
So Bayard Rustin, please accept this invitation to the Dinner party of the year. Your opinion, your diversity, and your knowledge of history are more than welcome!
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