Brother Outsider

I must admit, I was a little embarrassed about my complete lack of knowledge of the Civil Rights Movement when we were invited to this film about the life of Bayard Rustin and had never heard of him.  I guess that's kind of the point of this film. No one knows about Bayard Rustin.  The film, with its incredible amount of footage and documentation, reveals how crucial a role Rustin played in the organization of the Civil Rights Movement, and more specifically, in the March on Washington.  The fascinating thing about the film, which was admitted in the forum discussion after the showing, is that it emphasizes Rustin's importance in the Civil Rights Movement, before discussing his role in the LGBT community.  Strategic in the sense that homosexuality is still a taboo in our society.  The film tracks Rustin's life from his non-violent, civil rights organizing days, through his political stint in Washington to later in his life, when he takes up the fight for the LGBT community.  Most interesting is how the film portrays Rustin alongside Martin Luther King Jr.  A woman in the audience said something that really struck me. She said, "as an older African American citizen, I don't want to know anything bad about MLK. We don't want to know anything bad about him."  I don't know that the response she got necessarily gave the film enough credit for acknowledging exactly that issue.  Although the film presents Rustin as a forgotten about, behind the scenes, diamond in the rough, I thought the status of MLK was not compromised at any point.  Everyone has to play the game at times, including those who's mission is to change the game.  King's decision to separate himself from Rustin based on the threat of Rustin's homosexuality, was a tactful decision that may or may not have needed to be made for the civil rights at that time.  Regardless, Rustin is someone who deserves that credit the film offers and I am now the proud owner of the film for anyone who was to borrow it! (Coming your way, Papa J.  Watch it, love it.)


Check out the film's website: http://rustin.org/?page_id=2