Bayard Rustin
Organization founder
1912 – 1987
Who was Bayard Rustin?
Bayard Rustin was an American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, pacifism and non-violence, and gay rights. He was born and raised in Pennsylvania where his family was involved in civil rights work. In 1936, he moved to Harlem, New York City and earned a living as a nightclub and stage singer, and continued activism for civil rights.
In the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation, Rustin practiced nonviolence. He was a leading activist of the early 1947–1955 civil-rights movement, helping to initiate a 1947 Freedom Ride to challenge with civil disobedience racial segregation on interstate busing. He recognized Martin Luther King, Jr.'s leadership, and helped to organize the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to strengthen King's leadership; Rustin promoted the philosophy of nonviolence and the practices of nonviolent resistance, which he had observed while working with Gandhi's movement in India. Rustin became a leading strategist of the civil rights movement from 1955 to 1968. He was the chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which was headed by A. Philip Randolph, the leading African-American labor-union president and socialist. Rustin also influenced young activists, such as Tom Kahn and Stokely Carmichael, in organizations like the Congress on Racial Equality and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
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- Born
- Mar 17, 1912
West Chester - Also known as
- Bayard Taylor Rustin
- Spouses
- Walter Naegle
( - 1987/08/24)
- Walter Naegle
- Religion
- Religious Society of Friends
- Nationality
- United States of America
- Education
- Cheyney University of Pennsylvania
- Wilberforce University
- City College of New York
- Died
- Aug 24, 1987
Manhattan
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
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"Bayard Rustin." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/bayard_rustin>.
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