Let me take you on a historical voyage. Close your eyes (metaphorically). It is August 28th, 1963, you are but one in a humongous crowd facing the Lincoln Memorial, in Washington. Dr Martin Luther King Jr. is articulating what is going to be one of the most memorable speeches in history, I have a dream. While you probably would find little to no complication in remembering (and – mentally – reliving) this historical fact, I would like you to drive your attention away from Dr King for an instant; among all the people, there is one man, Bayard Rustin, a flamboyant figure some would say, who has got lost among all the pictures, slogans, and facts for a long time. His persona recently re-emerged from the corner of the page of history thanks to a biopic produced by Michelle and Barack Obama and distributed by Netflix, Rustin [https://www.netflix.com/it-en/title/81111528].
Indeed, what you wouldn’t know, perhaps even if you were in that crowd at that time, is that Mr Rustin educated and supported a young Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Indeed, Dr King referred to Mr Rustin as a mentor, a brother in the battle against racial segregation and a pioneer in a renovated approach to civil disobedience. As Barack Obama stated during the 2013 Presidential Medal of Freedom Ceremony “for decades, this great leader, often at Dr King’s side, was denied his rightful place in history because he was openly gay”, and there is thus a great need to honour his “memory by taking our place in his march towards true equality, no matter who we are or who we love” [https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/11/20/remarks-president-presidential-medal-freedom-ceremony]. Rustin was an activist who, despite his great contribution to the movement and its cause, and his political and social merits, remained in the shade for far too long. Crossing his path with the NAACP since his youth, he had an extensive curriculum of protests. Indeed, his sexual orientation, as well as his proactive and modern attitude, resulted in his marginalisation, up until the organisation of the March on Washington of 1963.
During a screening of the biopic, Michelle Obama addressed the audience stating that while she hoped everyone knew about the March on Washington (“the huge crowds, the historic speeches”), she cared to highlight how “the story of what went on behind the scenes [was] a little more hazy”. “We don’t know much about the folks who did the hard work,” she continued “Bayard Rustin was the driving force behind all of that.” [https://variety.com/2023/film/news/barack-obama-sag-aftra-wga-deals-rustin-screening-1235788079/].
What Bayard Rustin did throughout his lifetime embodied an all-round commitment to human and civil rights, a commitment he upheld until the very last moments of his life. He struggled for the reduction of racial discrimination, participating in several missions in the United States and abroad, to then devote his attention to the LGBTQIA+ community. In the film, you hear Colman Domingo playing Bayard Rustin asserting “On the day that I was born Black, I was also born homosexual. They either believe in freedom or justice for all, or they do not” [https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/nov/21/bayard-rustin-movie-lgbt-civil-rights-netflix], underlining how intersectionality is a very heavy burden, but, at the same time, could represent a chance to see how every form of discrimination is unfair, and thus should not be accepted.
Bayard Rustin was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013 by the President of the time, Barack Obama. On that occasion, President Obama enunciated: “Fifty years after the March on Washington he organised, America honours Bayard Rustin as one of its greatest architects for social change and a fearless advocate for its most vulnerable citizens” [https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/11/20/remarks-president-presidential-medal-freedom-ceremony].
Apart from having your interest surge towards both the figure of Bayard Rustin and the Netflix film about him (I swear, no paid partnership in place), this piece would like to be a driver for questions. Every one of us shall go and read that book about that historical figure we are so interested in, inquire about that issue we have so much heard about but know so little of, and try to become as knowledgeable as we can, while, simultaneously, recognise when it is time for us to say “I do not know enough about this”. We are gifted with the invaluable power of ready, at-hand information all the time; we shall learn how to make good use of that power, engaging in critical thinking and spreading the (as-close-to-right) word.
Just an average guy that read “On the road” a bit too soon and was led to tending to fall in love too much with too many things. Still in Bocconi, still trying to study Management of Government and International Organisations. I don’t know if I can say that I am a global citizen, I am more of a citizen that likes the globe.
