Great Post!

And Happy 100th!!!!

Posted on Advocate.com March 16, 2012 04:00:00 AM ET
By Diane Anderson-Minshall

From civil rights activists to performance artists, many this month are celebrating the life and legacy of gay civil rights pioneer Bayard Rustin who, among other things organized the 1963 March on Washington and was a cherished adviser to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Rustin would have turned 100 on March 17, and his long time partner, Walter Naegle, told audiences at “Voices Out Loud,” an recent Washington, D.C. evening of spoken word, film, speeches, and music in celebration of Rustin, that the work that the activist started “is far from over.” Author Michael G. Long agrees. The editor of I Must Resist: Bayard Rustin’s Life in Letters, Long sat down with Michael Bronski, author of A Queer History of the United States, to talk about Rustin’s legacy.

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Michael G. Long: Bayard is such a compelling figure for me because he brings together, in one person, so many of my interests—gay rights, civil and human rights, nonviolence, socialism, and progressive religion. He’s really the perfect storm. And he did indeed have a stormy life. When I first read letters he penned from prison in World War II, for example, I was immediately struck by his inner struggles with his gay sexuality. And what about you, Michael? Given your landmark book on queer history, what do you see as Bayard’s main contributions to US history?

Bronski: In the book’s introduction, I state that LGBT history is really a “myth” — this is actually American history — and what I tried doing was to find threads to weave together all of the social justice movements, and their participants, into a cohesive story. Bayard actually embodied that story with his myriad involvements in a wide range of movements and struggles. He is, to some degree, the person who brings gay/black/peace/equality struggles to one place. There are few historical, or contemporary, figures who do this. But Bayard is an incredible mix of so many of the most vital movements—and identities—of the twentieth century. So he is very vital to understanding a political history of America. As I look back on his life, it’s incredible to me that he is still relatively unknown to so many people. He’s absent from mainstream, gay, and African American history books, and I was wondering, given his level of moderate obscurity, how you found these letters. Is Rustin’s personal life well archived?

Long: Fortunately, yes. Bayard’s life and legacy are nicely archived at the Library of Congress, the National Archives, and at various archives across the country. Although the government conducted surveillance of Bayard at certain points, identifying him as a threat to national interests, it has wisely come around to seeing him as an American patriot whose papers — including countless, and historically rich, letters to and from Bayard — are worth preserving in our national collections. Letters in public archives are relatively easy to locate. A bit more challenging is the task of accessing letters in private hands. But some of Bayard’s friends were generous enough to offer me copies of their private letters.

http://www.advocate.com/Arts_and_Entertainment/Books/Author_Talk_Michael_Bronski_and_Michael_G_Long_on_Bayard_Rustins_Legacy/