38 Quotes by Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin, an influential leader and advocate for civil rights, social justice, and nonviolence, played a pivotal role in shaping the American civil rights movement. Born in 1912, Rustin's commitment to activism and his strategic organizing skills made him an invaluable asset to the movement. He was a key advisor to Martin Luther King Jr., helping to orchestrate the historic 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
Despite his significant contributions, Rustin faced multiple challenges and discrimination due to his identity as an openly gay man. He encountered both racial and homophobic prejudice throughout his life, but he remained steadfast in his pursuit of equality for all. Rustin's dedication to nonviolent protest and his belief in the power of organized resistance influenced the philosophy and tactics of the civil rights movement.
Rustin's work extended beyond the civil rights movement. He advocated for pacifism and was a prominent voice in the fight against apartheid in South Africa. Rustin's commitment to equality and justice, coupled with his unwavering dedication to nonviolent means, established him as a visionary leader whose impact resonates to this day.
Bayard Rustin Quotes
Let us be enraged about injustice, but let us not be destroyed by it. (Meaning)
If we desire a society without discrimination, then we must not discriminate against anyone in the process of building this society. If we desire a society that is democratic, then democracy must become a means as well as an end.
We are all one - and if we don't know it, we will learn it the hard way.
We need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers.
When an individual is protesting society's refusal to acknowledge his dignity as a human being, his very act of protest confers dignity on him.
If we desire a society in which men are brothers, then we must act towards one another with brotherhood. If we can build such a society, then we would have achieved the ultimate goal of human freedom.
The real radical is that person who has a vision of equality and is willing to do those things that will bring reality closer to that vision. . .
The only weapon we have is our bodies, and we need to tuck them in places so wheels don't turn
Gays are beginning to realize what blacks learned long ago: Unless you are out here fighting for yourself then nobody else will help you. I think the gay community has a moral obligation to continue the fight.
To be afraid is to behave as if the truth were not true.
If I do not fight bigotry wherever it is, bigotry is thereby strengthened. And to the degree that it is strengthened, it will, thereby, have the power to turn on me.
The moral man is he who is opposed to injustice per se, opposed to injustice wherever he finds it; the moral man looks for injustice first of all in himself.
Today, blacks are no longer the litmus paper or the barometer of social change. Blacks are in every segment of society and there are laws that help to protect them from racial discrimination. The new ‘niggers’ are gays. It is in this sense that gay people are the new barometer for social change. The question of social change should be framed with the most vulnerable group in mind: gay people.
Every indifference to prejudice is suicide because, if I don’t fight all bigotry, bigotry itself will be strengthened and, sooner or later, it will return on me.
God does not require us to achieve any of the good tasks that humanity must pursue. What God requires of us is that we not stop trying.
Bigotrys birthplace is the sinister back room of the mind where plots and schemes are hatched for the persecution and oppression of other human beings.
My activism did not spring from being black...The racial injustice that was present in this country during my youth was a challenge to my belief in the oneness of the human family.
People will never fight for your freedom if you have not given evidence that you are prepared to fight for it yourself.
The proof that one truly believes is in action.
You have to join every other movement for the freedom of people. Therefore join the movement as individuals against anti-Semitism, join the movements for the rights of Hispanics, the rights of women, the rights of gays. In other words, I think that each movement has to stand on its own feet because it has a particular agenda, but it can ask other people.
If we want to do away with the injustice to gays it will not be done because we get rid of the injustice to gays. It will be done because we are forwarding the effort for the elimination of injustice to all. And we will win the rights for gays, or blacks, or Hispanics, or women within the context of whether we are fighting for all.
When I say I love Eastland, it sounds preposterous a man who brutalizes people. But you love him or you wouldn't be here. You're going to Mississippi to create social change and you love Eastland in your desire to create conditions which will redeem his children. Loving your enemy is manifest in putting your arms not around the man but around the social situation, to take power from those who misuse it at which point they can become human too.
Both morally and practically, segregation is to me a basic injustice. Since I believe it to be so, I must attempt to remove it. There are three ways in which one can deal with an injustice. (a) One can accept it without protest. (b) On can seek to avoid it. (c) One can resist the injustice non-violently. To accept it is to perpetuate it.
There is a strong moralistic strain in the civil rights movement that would remind us that power corrupts, forgetting that the absence of power also corrupts.
Since Israel is a democratic state surrounded by essentially undemocratic states which have sworn her destruction, those interested in democracy everywhere must support Israel's existence.
The Journey of Reconciliation was organized not only to devise techniques for eliminating Jim Crow in travel, but also as a training ground for similar peaceful projects against discrimination in such major areas as employment and in the armed services.
My activism did not spring from my being gay, or, for that matter, from my being black. Rather, it is rooted fundamentally in my Quaker upbringing and the values that were instilled in me by my grandparents who reared me.
The organizers and perpetuators of segregation are as much the enemy of America as any foreign invader.
When you're wrong, you're wrong. But when you're right, you're wrong anyhow.
Looking back at his career, Mr. Rustin, a Quaker, once wrote: ‘The principal factors which influenced my life are 1) nonviolent tactics; 2) constitutional means; 3) democratic procedures; 4) respect for human personality; 5) a belief that all people are one.’
Twenty-five, 30 years ago, the barometer of human rights in the United States were black people. That is no longer true. The barometer for judging the character of people in regard to human rights is now those who consider themselves gay, homosexual, lesbian.
Every gay who is in the closet is ultimately a threat to the freedom of gays. I don't want to seem intolerant to them and I think we have to say that to them with a great deal of affection, but remaining in the closet is the other side of the prejudice against gays. Because until you challenge it, you are not playing an active role in fighting it.
You have to join every other movement for the freedom of people.
Black gay activists should try to build coalitions of people for the elimination of all injustice.
Conscription for war is inconsistent with freedom of conscience, which is not merely the right to believe but to act on the degree of truth that one receives, to follow a vocation which is God-inspired and God-directed.
If people do not organize in the name of their interest, the world will not take them as being serious. And that is the chief reason that every person who is gay should join some gay organization. Because he must prove to the world that he cares about his own freedom.
Martin Luther King, with whom I worked very closely, became very distressed when a number of the ministers working for him wanted him to dismiss me from his staff because of my homosexuality.
If anyone thinks they're going to get anything out of the Reagan administration for any particular group, they're wrong! You have to all combine and fight a head-on battle - in the name of justice and equality - and even that's going to be difficult. But if we let ourselves get separated so that we're working for gays or school children or the aged, we're in trouble.
― Bayard Rustin Quotes
Bayard Rustin (Leader) Life Highlights
- Bayard Rustin was born on March 17, 1912, in West Chester, Pennsylvania, USA.
- He was an African American civil rights activist and leader.
- Rustin was a prominent figure in the civil rights movement and an advocate for nonviolent protest.
- He played a crucial role in organizing the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
- Rustin was a close advisor to Martin Luther King Jr. and influenced King's commitment to nonviolence and civil disobedience.
- He was a key strategist and organizer for numerous civil rights campaigns and demonstrations.
- Rustin was an openly gay man at a time when homosexuality was stigmatized, which presented challenges in his activism.
- He faced discrimination and opposition within the civil rights movement due to his sexual orientation.
- Rustin was a committed pacifist and spent time in jail for his conscientious objection to military service during World War II.
- He also advocated for economic justice and was involved in labor and anti-war movements.
- Rustin worked as a human rights activist beyond the United States, supporting movements for decolonization and democracy in various countries.
- He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously in 2013 for his contributions to the advancement of civil rights and social justice.
- Bayard Rustin passed away on August 24, 1987, in New York City, USA.
- Despite facing challenges and discrimination, Rustin's dedication to nonviolence and social justice continues to inspire activists and advocates worldwide.
* The editor of this curated page made every effort to maintain information accuracy, including any sayings, quotes, facts, dates, or key life events.
Chief Editor
Tal Gur is an author, founder, and impact-driven entrepreneur at heart. After trading his daily grind for a life of his own daring design, he spent a decade pursuing 100 major life goals around the globe. His journey and most recent book, The Art of Fully Living, has led him to found Elevate Society.
