The Real Man Behind the Movie Rustin

The new movie Rustin opens in theaters tomorrow. It's the story of how Civil Rights activist Bayard Rustin organized the March on Washington, while staying mostly behind the scenes. The 1963 march was the highlight of Rustin's career, but it was one event in a full life of activism. He worked to promote equal rights beginning in the 1930s, advocated for pacifism during World War II, and introduced Martin Luther King, Jr. to the concept of nonviolent resistance.

But Rustin never sought the limelight. He mostly stayed in the background because he was openly gay, and while imprisoned for resisting the draft, concluded that the Civil Rights movement was more important than his personal life. So even though he spent more than twenty years bringing the March on Washington to reality, and covered every detail down to picking up trash afterward, he was not included in the photograph of the event's organizers. Even today, his role in the Civil Rights movement is lesser-known than his efforts deserve. Read about Bayard Rustin at Smithsonian before you see the movie, which begins streaming on Netflix November 17.  

(Image source: Library of Congress)