Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin

Running time: N/A

Black, gay, and a former Communist. Three strikes and you're out in 1950's America. Yet still Bayard Rustin, arguably the most underrated voice in the American civil rights movement, overcame the odds to become one of history's most influential figures. During the Montgomery bus boycott, Rustin met Martin Luther King and became a staunch advocate of Gandhi's non-violent protest philosophy. Rustin was silenced, threatened, arrested, beaten, and fired for his unwillingness to deny his beliefs. Forced to remain behind the scenes, Rustin nevertheless rose to a position of prominence, ultimately organizing the history-marking March on Washington in 1963 and becoming a voice Lyndon Johnson listened to on civil rights issues. 

Using firsthand accounts of Rustin's life and excepts from his FBI file, directors Nancy Kates and Bennett Singer tell a fascinating tale of a complex man who spent his life fighting for world peace and racial, sexual, and economic equality-issues that remain as relevant today as during his rich and turbulent life. 

- Al Owens. 

Preceded by: A Matter of Principal (Jeffrey Goodman, United States/19min/Digital Beta) Quarry loves the lakeside community and his leisure time at the cabin, but what is the mob doing in town?