Hardback

eBook

Add to GoodReads

Bayard Rustin

American Dreamer

Jerald Podair - Series edited by Jacqueline M. Moore and Nina Mjagkij

Bayard Rustin was a unique twentieth-century American radical voice. A homosexual, World War II draft resister, and ex-communist, he made enormous contributions to the civil rights, socialist, labor, peace, and gay rights movements in the United States, despite being viewed as an "outsider" even by fellow activists. Rustin was a humanist who championed the disadvantaged and oppressed, regardless of identity.

In Bayard Rustin: American Dreamer, Jerald Podair examines the life and career of a man who shaped virtually every aspect of the modern civil rights movement as a theorist, strategist, and spokesman. Podair begins by covering the period from Rustin's 1912 birth in West Chester, Pennsylvania, to his 1946 release from federal prison, where he served over two years for draft evasion. After his release, Rustin threw himself into work on behalf of pacifism and racial integration, two goals that, at this stage of his career, fit together almost seamlessly. Podair goes on to examine Rustin's role as the main organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, the most important civil rights demonstration in American history. He was a major influence on Martin Luther King, Jr.'s philosophy of nonviolent direct action, which led to the strategy that changed the course of American race relations. During the last years of his life, Rustin continued to champion the causes of socialism, coalition politics, and racial integration, as he also sought to aid oppressed people and foster democratic institutions worldwide.

Yet for all this, Rustin was rarely permitted a leading role in the movements he helped to shape. Because of his sexuality and his background as a former communist and draft resister, he was forced to do much of his work on the fringes, offering his organizational, strategic, and rhetorical skills to public leaders who chose to keep him at arm's length. Despite this, as Podair makes clear, Bayard Rustin was one of the most important civil rights leaders—and one of the most important radical leaders—in twentieth-century American history.

Documents in this book include excerpts from Rustin's writings, speeches, and public statements.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 128 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9½

978-0-7425-4513-7 • Hardback • December 2008 • $59.00 • (£45.00)

978-0-7425-6480-0 • eBook • December 2008 • $56.00 • (£43.00)

Series: The African American Experience Series

Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Historical, History / Social History, History / United States / 20th Century

Bayard Rustin

American Dreamer

Hardback

eBook

Summary

Bayard Rustin was a unique twentieth-century American radical voice. A homosexual, World War II draft resister, and ex-communist, he made enormous contributions to the civil rights, socialist, labor, peace, and gay rights movements in the United States, despite being viewed as an "outsider" even by fellow activists. Rustin was a humanist who championed the disadvantaged and oppressed, regardless of identity.

In Bayard Rustin: American Dreamer, Jerald Podair examines the life and career of a man who shaped virtually every aspect of the modern civil rights movement as a theorist, strategist, and spokesman. Podair begins by covering the period from Rustin's 1912 birth in West Chester, Pennsylvania, to his 1946 release from federal prison, where he served over two years for draft evasion. After his release, Rustin threw himself into work on behalf of pacifism and racial integration, two goals that, at this stage of his career, fit together almost seamlessly. Podair goes on to examine Rustin's role as the main organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, the most important civil rights demonstration in American history. He was a major influence on Martin Luther King, Jr.'s philosophy of nonviolent direct action, which led to the strategy that changed the course of American race relations. During the last years of his life, Rustin continued to champion the causes of socialism, coalition politics, and racial integration, as he also sought to aid oppressed people and foster democratic institutions worldwide.

Yet for all this, Rustin was rarely permitted a leading role in the movements he helped to shape. Because of his sexuality and his background as a former communist and draft resister, he was forced to do much of his work on the fringes, offering his organizational, strategic, and rhetorical skills to public leaders who chose to keep him at arm's length. Despite this, as Podair makes clear, Bayard Rustin was one of the most important civil rights leaders—and one of the most important radical leaders—in twentieth-century American history.

Documents in this book include excerpts from Rustin's writings, speeches, and public statements.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 128 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9½

978-0-7425-4513-7 • Hardback • December 2008 • $59.00 • (£45.00)

978-0-7425-6480-0 • eBook • December 2008 • $56.00 • (£43.00)

Series: The African American Experience Series

Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Historical, History / Social History, History / United States / 20th Century

Author

Jerald Podair is associate professor of history and the Robert French Professor of American Studies at Lawrence University.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Shadowman
Chapter 1: Voice of Protest, 1912–1946
Chapter 2: Toward Peace and Racial Justice, 1946–1963
Chapter 3: The March on Washington, 1963
Chapter 4: Coalition Politics and Its Limits, 1963–1969
Chapter 5: The Humanist, 1969–1987
Conclusion: Rustin's American Dreams
Documents
Bibliographic Essay

Reviews

Jerald Podair's lively engaging portrait of a key organizer in the freedom struggle puts Bayard Rustin's behind-the-scenes work out front for a new generation. Illuminating Rustin's struggle to make real America's promise of 'equality and justice for all,' Podair pushes an unsung hero out of the shadows. His work, at once scholarly and widely accessible, adds a biographer's depth to the key conflicts and triumphs of Rustin's complex, exciting, and sobering life story.
— Wesley Hogan, Virginia State University

Features

8/26/22, History Today: Podair wrote an article about how Bayard Rustin was more than just a civil rights leader.
Link: https://www.historytoday.com/archive/history-matters/man-behind-leader

Bayard Rustin

American Dreamer

Jerald Podair - Series edited by Jacqueline M. Moore and Nina Mjagkij

Bayard Rustin

American Dreamer

ALSO AVAILABLE