Recovering Rustin

Bayard Rustin was born a Quaker in Pennsylvania and became an advocate of non-violent resistance in the civil rights movement. He was openly gay at a time when most people in his position would have kept knowledge of their homosexuality secret. He was a brilliant organizer. Bayard Rustin was also a socialist who called for a sweeping economic rights program designed to pull all poor Americans out of poverty, rather than narrowly focusing on race. But you wouldn't learn the socialist aspects of Rustin's philosophy and activism from watching the new Netflix biopic "Rustin," which was executive-produced by the Obamas. In this episode, historian William P. Jones discusses the Rustin that doesn't appear on screen, a man dedicated to economic justice who also refused to publicly condemn the Vietnam War.

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