Black History Month Heroes You Should Know: Bayard Rustin

Happy Black History Month! This is the second blog of a series of blogs called “Black History Month Heroes You Should Know”. This series will be a collection of my research into little-known Black Americans who have made history in one way or another (or multiple ways!).

The focus of today’s blog is Bayard Rustin, the man working behind-the-scenes of Martin Luther King Jr.'s March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963.

This is his story.

A Life-long Commitment to Non-Violence

According to kinginstitute.stanford.edu, Rustin grew up in West Chester, Pennsylvania where he was raised by his grandparents with his 11 siblings. It was early on that Rustin was taught non-violence, as his grandparents practiced Quaker ideals. His grandmother's activity working with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) allowed for several Black leaders, like W.E.B. Du Bois and Mary McLeod Bethune, to visit their home.

After graduating from high school, Rustin studied at Wilberforce University, Cheyney State Teachers College, and City College of New York. While in school, Rustin was drawn to communist ideals. He believed they aligned well with his beliefs in racial justice and equality. He joined the local Young Communist League for a while until he started to lean away from communist ideals. Despite this, his past with communism led everyone to question his role working with Dr. King later on.

After working as the youth organizer for the proposed March on Washington in 1941, Rustin joined the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) and helped co-found the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). Several years later, Rustin took a seven-week trip to India to study the Gandhian philosophy of non-violence, which he later would teach Dr. King.

Rustin and Dr. King became associates once Rustin taught Dr. King about Gandhian non-violence. After that, Dr. King appointed Rustin as his advisor and organizer for the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1956. As other civil leaders began to see their relationship, concerns rang out about not only Rustin's history with communism but also the fact that Rustin was gay.

Despite these concerns, Dr. King recognized an asset and friend in Rustin so they both went on to organize the March on Washington in 1963. Nicknamed “Mr. March-on-Washington”, Rustin was the brilliant mind behind the curtain so to speak. It was risky to have him at the forefront of the movement because of his history, but he remained dedicated to the cause even after the march was over. Read more about Bayard Rustin here.

Read another article from the "Black History Month Heroes You Should Know" blog series here.