The Honoree

Between the first Chicago student sit-ins in 1942 and the passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965, Bayard Rustin had a hand in nearly every major nonviolent civil rights activity in the United States. In Ghana, he helped Kwame Nkrumah organize the youth division of his political party.

When Rustin began to organize the March on Washington, Senator Strom Thurmond rose on the floor of the US Senate and attacked Rustin as a draft dodger, homosexual, and communist. Despite the negativity associated with these titles during his time, leaders chose Rustin to organize the march where Dr. King delivered his now famous, “I Have a Dream” speech. Increasingly, a number of buildings are being named for Rustin including the Social Justice Center in Conway, Arkansas.

Other Honors

The National Register of Historic Places
Bayard Rustin Residence
340 W. 28th Street, New York City

Bayard Rustin High School
West Chester, PA

The LGBT Center and Campus Housing
University of Louisville
Louisville, KY

Bayard Rustin Elementary
Montgomery County, MD

Bayard Rustin Room at Friends House
London, UK

See and Read More

“In addition to Netflix’s “Rustin,” there is also POV’s “Brother Outsider: the Life of Bayard Rustin” and Jervis Anderson’s “Bayard Rustin: Troubles I've Seen.”

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About "From These Shores"

From These Shores celebrates the accomplishments of 18 known and lesser-known Africans in the diaspora across time and geography. The 12 panels hang at the Juffureh Slavery Museum, The Gambia and online. Timbooktoo Bookstore in New Bakau, The Gambia and Mansa Musa Restaurant in Takoma Park, MD USA each display one of the panels.

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