Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin (review)

Bayard Rustin was a Civil Rights leader who believed the labor movement was a key ally for advancing the rights of African Americans. His activism ranged from A. Philip Randolph's March on Washington Movement in the early 1940s to founding the National Emergency Coalition for Haitian Refugees in 1982. Perhaps his greatest triumph was his successful direction of the 1963 march on Washington. He helped found, and then led, the AFL-CIO Institute named after Randolph.

The early part of the movie includes a thoughtful overview of the impact of segregation—ranging from lynchings and Klan rallies in Pennsylvania to everyday memories of how black and white students related to one another in the West Chester, Pennsylvania schools that Rustin attended in the 1920s and 1930s. Early work for A.J. Muste's Fellowship of Reconciliation united Rustin's commitment to nonviolence with his devotion to racial equality. A Quaker, Rustin went to jail as a conscientious objector in World War II. In 1947, he organized the first "freedom ride" against segregation on buses in North Carolina, for which he was sentenced to prison. His series of newspaper articles, "Twenty-two Days on the Chain Gang," helped lead to the abolition of forced labor in that state. All these experiences helped Rustin provide crucial advice to Martin Luther King and others who advocated non-violent resistance as a key tactic of the Civil Rights movement.

Rustin was typically the key staffer, the trusted advisor, the back-room organizer. Movement leaders who appeared in the spotlight relied on his work. Rustin was an excellent speaker and public intellectual. But, his life as a gay man and associated arrest record on "morals" charges, along with his membership in Communist organizations in the late 1930s, limited Rustin to roles that would not provide fodder for opponents of civil rights. In this movie, Rustin's life story becomes a lens for viewing the historic struggle for full equality for all in the United States, a struggle that still continues today.

Brother Outsider won the 2004 American Library Association Notable Video Award, and the 2003 Cine Golden Eagle award. It is engaging and historically insightful; at the same time it provides an excellent springboard for discussion of issues that remain relevant today. The movie would be a useful tool for labor educators who wish to start a discussion about how unions should relate to gay/lesbian rights or how unions should address workplace issues faced by sexual minorities. The movie is also an excellent starting point for more extended discussion of the pros and cons of non-violent resistance. The film is suitable for either college or high-school use or in adult education groups.

Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin, producers/directors: Nancy Kates, Bennet Singer, executive producer: Sam Pollard. May be ordered for $195.00 plus $10.00 shipping from California Newsreel, P.O. Box 2284, South Burlington, VT 05407; phone: 877-811-7495. On-line facilitator guide available.