- Inaugural Bayard Rustin Civil Rights Honors set for July 2
http://bayardrustincoalition.com/inaugural-bayard-rustin-civil-rights-honors-set-for-july-2/ - Bayard Rustin Service Award 2013
CONGRATULATIONS REV. IRENE MONROE http://www.baywindows.com/Bayard-Rustin-Pride-icon - MOVIE SCREENING: "Brother Outsider: the Life of Bayard Rustin"
http://bayardrustincoalition.com/movie-screening-brother-outsider-the-life-of-bayard-rustin/ - Interview with civil rights activist Bayard Rustin's partner, Walter Naegle
http://bayardrustincoalition.com/interview-with-civil-rights-activist-bayard-rustins-partner-walter-naegle/
JUNE 2013
A Celebration of Bayard Rustin &
50th Anniversary of 1963 March on Washington
Save the date! Wednesday, June 5, 1pm .
A Celebration of Bayard Rustin & 50th Anniversary of 1963 March on Washington . Library of Congress, Mumford Rood (LM 649), James Madison Building, Washington, DC. Presented by Library of Congress Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, or Transgender Employees (GLOBE) and Blacks in Government (BIG).
Join us for a discussion of civil rights leader Bayard Rustin, prominent strategist for the 1963 March on Washington. Led by MANDY CARTER, National Coordinator of the National Black Justice Coalition’s Bayard Rustin 2013 Commemoration Project. A national/international collaborative effort for LGBT and allies participation in this year’s observance of the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March.
The program includes seeing footage of the August 28, 1963 March on Washington from the award-winning film “Brother Outsider-The Life of Bayard Rustin” by Nancy Kates & Bennett Singer. www.rustin.org. Everyone attending will get a copy of the original Manual used for the 1963 March on Washington.
*Bayard Rustin’s papers, held by the Library of Congress, will be on display. See more about Bayard Rustin materials and LGBT collections on line atwww.loc.gov/lgbt. *Donated by Walter Naegle, Executive Director, Bayard Rustin Fund and Bayard’s surviving partner.
Free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Erin Hawkins, ehawkins@loc.gov. Request ADA accommodations five business days in advance. Contact 202-707-8362 or ADA@loc.gov.
Bayard Rustin Service Award 2013
Each year, the City of Cambridge GLBT Commission presents the Bayard Rustin Service Award to a person of color for their work on behalf of the LGBTQ community. This year I am honored to be the recipient.
Not only do I humbly stand on the shoulders of last year’s recipient, Priscilla Lee, and the first awardee, the late Rev Peter Gomes of Harvard University, but I stand also on the shoulders of the man himself—Bayard Rustin.
While Rustin, inarguably, is one of the tallest trees in our forest, he’s still largely an unknown due to the heterosexism that canonized the history of last century’s black civil rights movement.
For 24 years, however, the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts has held their annual Bayard Rustin Breakfast, recognizing Rustin’s contribution and honoring communities of color fight against HIV/AIDS. The Breakfast has become an African American LGBTQ tradition for Greater Boston.
In February 2012, “State of the Re:Union,” a nationally aired radio show distributed by NPR and PRX, was awarded first place in the Excellence in Radio category from the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, recognizing the Black History Month special titled “Bayard Rustin – Who Is This Man?” In March 2012, LGBTQ communities around the country celebrated Bayard Rustin’s 100th birthday anniversary.
Sadly, most Americans have never heard of this man.
Born March 17, 1912 in the Quaker-settled area of West Chester Pennsylvania, one of the stops on the Underground Railroad, is Bayard Rustin’s beginning. A handsome six-footer who possessed both athletic and academic prowess is most noted as the strategist and chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington that catapulted the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King onto a world stage. Rustin also played a key role in helping King develop the strategy of nonviolence in the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-1956), which successfully dismantled the long-standing Jim Crow ordinance of segregated seating on public conveyances in Alabama.
One of my favorite quotes by Rustin is this: “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.” For LGBTQ African Americans Rustin is the only open gay hero we have, and for many of us his work and words give us courage to fight homophobia in ourselves and in our communities.
In a letter to a friend explaining his predilection toward gay sex Rustin wrote, “I must pray, trust, experience, dream, hope and all else possible until I know clearly in my own mind and spirit that I have failed to become heterosexual, if I must fail, not because of a faint heart, or for lack of confidence in my true self, or for pride, or for emotional instability, or for moral lethargy, or any other character fault, but rather, because I come to see after the most complete searching that the best for me lies elsewhere.”
During the Civil Rights movement Bayard Rustin was always the man behind the scene, and a large part of that had to due with the fact that he was gay. As Albert Shanker, then president of the American Federation of Teachers and friend of Rustin stated in a review on Jervis Anderson’s biography Bayard Rustin: The Troubles I’ve Seen that Rustin “…was the quintessential outsider—a black man, a Quaker, a one-time pacifist, a political, social dissident, and a homosexual.”
African American ministers involved in the Civil Right movement would have nothing to do with Rustin, and they intentionally rumored throughout the movement that King was gay because of his close friendship with Rustin.
Rustin’s isolation and invisibility are gradually dissipating as more of us come to know the man.
As we comb through the annals of history this Pride Month, I’m honored to have my name mentioned in the same breath as Bayard Rustin let alone to be receiving an award in his honor.
Bayard Rustin Lecture Series : Featuring Walter Naegle
THE BAYARD RUSTIN LECTURE SERIES
The series continues this Saturday, June 8 at 7:00pm with
Walter Naegle, Bayard Rustins surviving partner.
Walter Nagel worked in non-profit educational and arts organizations for 4 decades; lived and worked with partner veteran civil/human rights activist Bayard Rustin during the last decade of Bayard’s life. As his executor, he has raised awareness of Rustin’s achievements through numerous projects, including the award-winning documentary film Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin; serves on the Executive Com. of the NY/Metro American Friends Service Committee.
412/983-8895 for more information
$20.00 or pay what you can
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/399218
Brother Outsider, A Screening & Discussion
Bayard Rustin Civil Rights Honors set for July 2
SAN DIEGO — The inaugural Bayard Rustin Civil Rights Honors will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 2 at The San Diego LGBT Community Center. The awards will be presented by the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) of Washington, D.C., The International Court Council and the San Diego LGBT Community Center.
Bayard Rustin (March 17, 1912-Aug. 24, 1987) is widely considered the father of the 1963 National Civil Rights March on Washington. An openly gay, black civil rights leader, Rustin was a senior advisor to Dr. Martin Luther King. Sen. Strom Thurmond railed against Rustin on the floor of the Senate, referring to him as a “Communist draft-dodger and homosexual.”
Recipients of the inaugural Bayard Rustin Civil Rights Honors include:
Lifetime Achievement Award
Mandy Carter
Mandy Carter, National civil rights activist
San Diego Mayor Bob Filner, 1960 Freedom Rider
Ashley Walker, Martin Luther King All People’s Breakfast
Bayard Rustin Civil Rights Award
Jimmy Lovett Jr., Malcolm X Library
Carole Norman, NP, San Diego Black Nurses Association
Christopher Grinston, Imperial Court de San Diego
Ashley Walker
Vertez Burks, San Diego community activist
City Commissioner Stampp Corbin, chair of the Equal Opportunity Commission
Tracie Jada O’Brien, Stepping Stone
City Commissioner Nicole Murray Ramirez and Carolina Alcoser Ramos of The San Diego LGBT Community Center will direct and host the event.
“We are proud to join the National Black Justice Coalition in this long overdue recognition of civil rights icon Bayard Rustin,” said Ramirez.
The entire community is invited to the July 2 event, which will include a short clip of the award winning film Brother Outsider, outstanding entertainment, amazing soul food and a silent auction. A $10 donation to benefit the Bayard Rustin Commemoration Project of the NBJC is requested.
The Bayard Rustin Civil Rights Honors are being underwritten by The Human Dignity Foundation of San Diego, The International Court and The San Diego LGBT Community Center.
For further information call City Commissioner Nicole Murray Ramirez at 619-692-1967.
MAY 2013
Bayard Rustin Scholars
Put The Guns Down Event Block Party
APRIL 2013
‘Impressed By His Courage’ In Coming Out, President Obama Calls Jason Collins
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama called Jason Collins on Monday to express his gratitude after the NBA player publicly announced that he is gay, two sources familiar with the call told The Huffington Post.
A White House official confirmed the call, saying that the president wanted to “express his support” and tell Collins that “he was impressed by his courage.”
The conversation took place several hours after Sports Illustrated published an essay by Collins in which he came out and explained why he had waited until now to make the announcement.
Collins, 34, has been a journeyman center in the NBA since graduating from Stanford. In penning his Sports Illustrated essay, he became the first openly gay male athlete to be currently playing a major sport.
The announcement took both the sports world and the LGBT community by surprise, with one gay rights activist telling The Huffington Post they were “caught off-guard,” but adding that they were thrilled at the overwhelming public support Collins has received.
Several politicians have applauded Collins’ decision to come out as well. First Lady Michelle Obama tweeted her support, while former President Bill Clinton — whose daughter went to school with Collins — offered a statement exalting his courage.
Collins is set to make his first public remarks since coming out on Tuesday, when he’ll appear on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
NBA Center Jason Collins Come Out
Happy Birthday, Coretta Scott King!
(April 27, 1927 – January 30, 2006)
Coretta King played a prominent role in the Civil Rights Movement after her husband’s death. In her later years, she took up the mantle for LGBT rights and marriage equality.
Bayard Rustin Center for LGBTQA Symposium
GLBT Commission seeks nominations for Bayard Rustin Service Award by April 22
The city of Cambridge GLBT Commission seeks nominations for the annual Bayard Rustin Service Award, an honor bestowed to a person of color with an outstanding history of service to the GLBT Community. The award will be presented at the annual Cambridge Pride Celebration, a tradition that takes place at City Hall on the morning of the Boston Pride Parade – June 8, 2013
The deadline for submitting nominations is April 22.
This award has been named in honor of Bayard Rustin, an American civil rights activist who helped usher in the Civil Rights Era of the 1950s and 1960s. As an early adopter of nonviolent protest methods, Mr. Rustin counseled Martin Luther King, Jr. at a time when the young minister was just gaining national prominence; Mr. Rustin would continue to work with Dr. King in the coming years, serving as the chief organizer of the famed March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. Mr. Rustin then worked tirelessly to advocate for GLBT causes in the latter part of his career, courageously standing in defiance of the viciously negative attitudes towards members of the GLBT community. Through his advocacy, he helped raise awareness and expand horizons, paving the way for a society that is more inclusive, accepting, and respectful of its wonderful diversity.
Criteria for Nomination
Nominees for the Bayard Rustin Service Award must be a past or present resident of Cambridge, or they must currently or previously have worked in Cambridge. Nominees may not be a member of the Cambridge GLBT Commission, or a family member of a commissioner. Nominees may be city employees, so long as they are being nominated for service beyond the scope of their employment. Posthumous nominations will also be accepted and considered. To nominate someone for this award, complete the application and return it to the Nomination Award Committee. Contact information is on the last page of the nomination form, which is available here or can be filled out online here.
About the GLBT Commission
The City of Cambridge GLBT Commission advocates for a culture of respect, and monitors progress toward equality of all persons with regard to sexual orientation and gender identity. The Commission is committed to promoting and monitoring policies and practices that have a positive effect on the health, welfare, and safety of all persons who live, visit, or work in the City of Cambridge, with regard to sexual orientation and gender identity. The Commission holds monthly meetings which are open to the general public. Please visit www.cambridgema.gov/glbt for more information.
MOVIE SCREENING: “Brother Outsider: the Life of Bayard Rustin”
On April 13, 1947, a bus carrying 16 “Freedom Riders” arrived in downtown Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Bayard Rustin, the notorious angelic troublemaker, was on board.
Their purpose, simple yet defiant, was to test the 1946 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Irene Morgan v. the Commonwealth of Virginia, which declared segregation of the races on public interstate buses unconstitutional.
It was not until the Freedom Riders arrived in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, however, that they encountered violence and hostility.
As inciters of the altercation however, four of the Freedom Riders were illegally arrested and detained. Bayard Rustin, one of the four arrested, later served 22 days on a chain gain in Roxboro, just north of Durham.
To honor the legacy of Bayard Rustin on the anniversary occasion of the 1947 Journey for Reconciliation, please join Quinton Harper next Saturday, April 13 for a screening of “Brother Outsider: the Life of Bayard Rustin.”
Who is Bayard Rustin? Come find out!
YOU ARE INVITED
WHAT: a screening of “Brother Outsider: the Life of Bayard Rustin”
WHEN: Saturday, April 13, 2013
WHERE: Orange County Social Club, 108 East Main Street in Carrboro, NC
TIME: 4-6:30pm
Please RSVP at bayardrustin.freedomrider@gmail.com next Saturday, April 13 2013 for a screening of
“Brother Outsider: the Life of Bayard Rustin.”
Times Magazine called him “the invisible man,” and “the unknown hero of the civil rights movement.”
Who is Bayard Rustin? Come find out!
MARCH 2013
Bayard Rustin Community Breakfast
Supreme Court Taking up Marriage Equality
Will Hear Arguments on Prop 8, DOMA
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Remembering Bayard Rustin Online Seminar:
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the historic March on Washington led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Bayard Rustin, sometimes designated as “Brother Outsider” was the principal architect of the March. Dr. Terrance Wiley will engage participants in reflection and discussion of the justice ethic and commitment that inspired Rustin’s life and work as an activist – even in the face of community resistance to his identity as an openly gay man. The New Civil Rights Movement writes: About the Instructor:
Dr. Wiley is currently working on a manuscript, “Angelic Troublemakers: Religion and Anarchism in Henry David Thoreau, Dorothy Day, and Bayard Rustin”, which explores the theological anthropologies, ethics, political philosophies, and social theories of three exemplary American religious radicals. Dr. Wiley holds a BA from Southern Methodist University, a JD from Georgetown University Law Center, and an MA and PhD from Princeton University.
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Dr. Terrance Wiley is PSR’s Visiting Professor of Ethics, Law and Peace Studies. He teaches courses at the intersection of religious ethics, theology, political philosophy, and African American Studies, with an emphasis on nonviolent social movement theory and praxis.
3/17/2013 – HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. RUSTIN!
TODAY is BAYARD RUSTIN’S 101st BIRTHDAY ANNIVERSARY!
Bayard Rustin Commemorative Birthday Celebration
FEBRUARY 2013
BRC Black History Month Happy Hour Mixer
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013
Happy Birthday, Barbara Jordan!
(February 21, 1936 – January 17, 1996)
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| Jordan addresses the House, September 24, 1974. |
GENERATIONS 2013: Black LGBT History Experiences
JANUARY 2013
2013 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Festival & Parade | SF
Celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with an MLK Day festival, march and parade that centers in and around San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Gardens on January 21, 2013.
Attend a full day festival with live music, speeches, a reading festival as well as a march and parade from Caltrain to Yerba Buena Gardens to commemorate the Selma to Montgomery march.
Make sure to register for your free commemorative MLK2013 BART Pass by January 19, 2013,
Rain may cancel some events. Visit norcalmlkfoundation.org for updates.
The 2013 MLK March and Parade kicks off at 11am at San Francisco’s Caltrain Station and journeys on to Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and Gardens.
The 1.5 mile march crosses over Lefty O’Doul Bridge and stops at Willie Mays Plaza at AT&T Park to commemorate the Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, marches, which crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, a symbol of violence and victory in the civil rights era.
At conclusion of the March an interfaith commemoration will bring together the region’s faith leaders to commemorate the vision of Dr. King and to lead participants in a spiritual reflection of Dr. King’s message.
1000 Black LGBT People Called to March In Kingdom Day Parade
On Saturday, January 19, 2013, a coalition of nearly 50 Black Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender and Same Gender Loving community organizations, individuals, families and allies in Southern California will gather to participate in the MLK Kingdom Day Parade to honor the work of Dr. King and celebrate the significant contributions made by members of the community to his legacy as a whole.
The community selected three historic figures known for their dedicated years of community activism to be the frontliners for this event. Their issues and concerns range from HIV/AIDS, marriage equality, the rights of LGBT people and movements that support equality for transgender people.
These figures include Jewel Thais-Williams, outspoken activist and proprietor of the famous Catch One Nightclub and founder of the celebrated, Village Health Foundation; the world-renowned Archbishop Carl Bean, co-founder of the Unity Fellowship Church movement with numerous branches across the country; Sir Lady Java, human rights crusader, who was featured in Jet Magazine for a historic protest against the famed Red Foxx Nightclub which discriminated against female impersonators, as well as Toni Bradley, daughter of late Los Angeles Mayor, Tom Bradley.
Participation in the 2013 march is coordinated by a coalition of organizations in the theme, “Pieces of the Dream…Fulfilled.” Here to Stay Coalition and the Bayard Rustin Coalition are acknowledged for their key role in mobilizing participants in past years.
Representation from a wide sector of Black LGBT/SGLBT organizations is expected for the 2013 march. Among the flagship orgs are Alpha Omega Nu, Black Lesbians United (BLU), the Black LGBT Project, Royal Family Ent., Dewberries Cultural Center, Pride & Promote, In the Meantime Men, Minority AIDS Project, VHF and Unity Fellowship Church.
“This occasion calls for a united front in our community. Visibility is important. When we are visible we can no longer be denied benefits and rights that other Americans are freely granted. The participation of Black LGBT people is not about intimidating anyone. It’s about exhibiting pride in who we are, celebrating our families and our contributions to the Black community as a whole,” Says Jewel.
Coretta Scott King, wife of the late Dr. King, also carried a torch for the rights of LGBT/SGLBT people, “I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights of lesbian and gay people and I should stick to the issue of racial justice. But I hasten to remind them that Martin Luther King said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King’s dream to make room at the table of brother and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people.”
Bayard Rustin / Audre Lorde Breakfast
The 2013 Bayard Rustin/Audre Lorde Breakfast will be held Monday, January 21st 10am at St. Mark United Methodist Church, 781 Peachtree St Atlanta, GA 30308. The breakfast honors these two highly influential activists, provides space for fellowship, and enhances progressive coalition building among LGBTQ people and our allies working for social justice. In 2012, co-founders Craig Washington and Darlene Hudson received the Phillip Rush Community Builder Award from Georgia Equality for their leadership of this event.
The theme for the 2013 Bayard Rustin/Audre Lorde Breakfast, Re-Imagining the Dream, represents the significance of collectively owning and working to achieve the modern dream for freedom and equality. The program will feature the history and current organizing within Black LGBTQ and people of color communities. Participants will learn more about the critical challenges we face, identify key local resources, and develop organizing goals to address these challenges. “We trust that it will motivate more ownership and envisioning of today’s dream for social justice and equality for today’s progressive LGBTQ people and our allies, our beloved community,” Washington said.
In the tradition of Bayard Rustin, Audre Lorde and Martin Luther King Jr, progressive LGBTQ people in the South must chart and mobilize toward a great dream that recognizes our bodies, our souls, our common vision and our shared values. “The Rustin/Lorde Breakfast has become a symbol of what it means for diverse communities to come together to discuss the social challenges of today, ideas about how we face those challenges, and to share our accomplishments and hopes for the future,” said Hudson.
Following the breakfast, participants will join the Martin Luther King Jr March and Rally by gathering at the line-up site on the northeast corner of Peachtree and Ellis streets (same side as Ritz Carlton) at 1:45pm. The MLK March and Rally kicks off at 2pm. Immediately following the march, the rally will be held on Auburn Avenue in the King National Park Area. Cortez Wright, Communications & Development Associate for SPARK Reproductive Health NOW will serve as our honorary LGBTQ Grand Marshal and speaker at the MLK rally.
Presidential Proclamation –
150th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation
150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION
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BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
On December 31, 1862, our Nation marked the end of another year of civil war. At Shiloh and Seven Pines, Harpers Ferry and Antietam, brother had fought against brother. Sister had fought against sister. Blood and bitterness had deepened the divide that separated North from South, eroding the bonds of affection that once united 34 States under a single flag. Slavery still suspended the possibility of an America where life and liberty were the birthright of all, not the province of some.
Yet, even in those dark days, light persisted. Hope endured. As the weariness of an old year gave way to the promise of a new one, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation — courageously declaring that on January 1, 1863, “all persons held as slaves” in rebellious areas “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” He opened the Union Army and Navy to African Americans, giving new strength to liberty’s cause. And with that document, President Lincoln lent new moral force to the war by making it a fight not just to preserve, but also to empower. He sought to reunite our people not only in government, but also in freedom that knew no bounds of color or creed. Every battle became a battle for liberty itself. Every struggle became a struggle for equality.
Our 16th President also understood that while each of us is entitled to our individual rights and responsibilities, there are certain things we cannot accomplish on our own. Only a Union could serve the hopes of every citizen, knocking down the barriers to opportunity and giving each of us the chance to pursue our highest aspirations. He knew that in these United States, no dream could ever be beyond our reach when we affirm that individual liberty is served, not negated, by seeking the common good.
It is that spirit that made emancipation possible and codified it in our Constitution. It is that belief in what we can do together that moved millions to march for justice in the years that followed. And today, it is a legacy we choose not only to remember, but also to make our own. Let us begin this new year by renewing our bonds to one another and reinvesting in the work that lies ahead, confident that we can keep driving freedom’s progress in our time.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 1, 2013, as the 150th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. I call upon all Americans to observe this day with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities that celebrate the Emancipation Proclamation and reaffirm the timeless principles it upheld.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of December, in the year of our Lord two thousand twelve, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-seventh.
BARACK OBAMA
The Bayard Rustin LGBT Coalition Wishes You A Happy New Year!
DECEMBER 2012
Happy Kwanzaa from the Bayard Rustin LGBT Coalition!
Kwanzaa: Roots and Branches
The Continental African Roots
Kwanzaa is an African American and Pan-African holiday which celebrates family, community and culture. Celebrated from 26 December thru 1 January, its origins are in the first harvest celebrations of Africa from which it takes its name. The name Kwanzaa is derived from the phrase “matunda ya kwanza” which means “first fruits” in Swahili, a Pan-African language which is the most widely spoken African language.
The first-fruits celebrations are recorded in African history as far back as ancient Egypt and Nubia and appear in ancient and modern times in other classical African civilizations such as Ashantiland and Yorubaland. These celebrations are also found in ancient and modern times among societies as large as empires (the Zulu or kingdoms (Swaziland) or smaller societies and groups like the Matabele, Thonga and Lovedu, all of southeastern Africa. Kwanzaa builds on the five fundamental activities of Continental African “first fruit” celebrations: ingathering; reverence; commemoration; recommitment; and celebration. Kwanzaa, then, is:
- a time of ingathering of the people to reaffirm the bonds between them;
- a time of special reverence for the creator and creation in thanks and respect for the blessings, bountifulness and beauty of creation;
- a time for commemoration of the past in pursuit of its lessons and in honor of its models of human excellence, our ancestors;
- a time of recommitment to our highest cultural ideals in our ongoing effort to always bring forth the best of African cultural thought and practice; and
- a time for celebration of the Good, the good of life and of existence itself, the good of family, community and culture, the good of the awesome and the ordinary, in a word the good of the divine, natural and social.
The African American Branch
Rooted in this ancient history and culture, Kwanzaa develops as a flourishing branch of the African American life and struggle as a recreated and expanded ancient tradition. Thus, it bears special characteristics only an African American holiday but also a Pan-African one, For it draws from the cultures of various African peoples, and is celebrated by millions of Africans throughout the world African community. Moreover, these various African peoples celebrate Kwanzaa because it speaks not only to African Americans in a special way, but also to Africans as a whole, in its stress on history, values, family, community and culture.
Kwanzaa was established in 1966 in the midst of the Black Freedom Movement and thus reflects its concern for cultural groundedness in thought and practice, and the unity and self-determination associated with this expression of recovery and reconstruction of African culture.
You Are Invited to the Second Annual Soulful Holidays Cabaret!
Anouncing a Fun Holiday Benefit for the Black Coalition on AIDS/Rafiki Wellness.
Remember to Visit our Facebook Page to see featured guests and ho-ho-hosts! Happy Holidays from BCA and BRC!
NOVEMBER 2012
Bayard Rustin Centennial Festival and Un-Masked Conference
Bayard Rustin LGBT Coalition’s November 6, 2012 Election Endorsements.
Congratulations to the Winning Candidates!
DARRYL MOORE DISTRICT 2 REBECCA KAPLAN AT-LARGE
BERKELEY CITY COUNCIL OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL
OCTOBER 2012
A. Philip Randolph Institute’s 12th Annual Fundraising Dinner
SEPTEMBER 2012
The Oakland Dinner Club Celebrates 15 Years: The Crystal Anniversary
R.S.V.P !
Remember to purchase your tickets before the 15th, or reserve at door.
There will be an after dinner dance.
You can purchase tickets from any member of Planning Committee.
No tickets sold at door for our event as space is limited.
AUGUST 2012
CEO ATLAS LEADERSHIP STRATEGIES Transform to Lead - Lead to Transform
Click here for Commonwealth Club PODCAST
Many thanks to friends who joined us at the Commonwealth Club on August 21 as I moderated a discussion with Bayard Rustin scholar Michael Long, author of “I Must Resist: Bayard Rustin’s Life in Letters” exploring Rustin’s legacy as a civil and human rights and LGBT icon, and his impact as a truly transformative American leader. Thanks to co-sponsors Bayard Rustin LGBT Coalition, Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democractic Club, and City Lights Booksellers.
I Must Resist:
Updating Bayard Rustin’s Dream of Work for All
August 21, 2012
Legacy of Civil Rights and LGBT Icon Bayard Rustin explored with scholar Michael Long at Commonwealth Club of California
SAN FRANCISCO — Scholar and author of the recently released “I Must Resist: Bayard Rustin’s Life in Letters”, Michael G. Long will be featured at the Commonwealth Club San Francisco on Tuesday, August 21.
Michael G. Long, an associate professor of religious studies and peace and conflict studies at Elizabethtown College, is the author or editor of several books on civil rights, religion, and politics in mid-century America, including Marshalling Justice: The Early Civil Rights Letters of Thurgood Marshall and First Class Citizenship: The Civil Rights Letters of Jackie Robinson. He holds a Ph.D. from Emory University in Atlanta and resides in Highland Park, Pennsylvania.
Bayard Rustin Scholars
By participating in the Bayard Rustin Scholar program a participant will be able to achieve understanding of the following, at minimum:
Race and Racism –
- Identify and discuss participant’s racial and ethnic heritages.
- Learn definitions and guiding assumptions about race and racism.
- Explore the concepts of white privileges, internalized racism, and empowerment.
- Increase awareness and understanding of individual, institutional and societal/cultural manifestation of racism.
- Develop strategies of advocacy for self and other residential students.
Sex, Gender, and Sexism —
- Understand the ideas surrounding male privilege and the place of females, femininity, and women in society.
- Recognize one’s place in relation to women and how one can gain benefits by displaying a more masculine and manly form.
Socioeconomic Status —
- Understand working definitions and basic concepts about class and classism.
- Reflect on one’s own class experience and name class of origin.
- Create a space which participants can discuss difficult issues associated with socioeconomic status on campus.
- Develop strategies of advocacy for self and other residential students.
Heterosexism and Sexual Orientation —
- Explore personal feelings, thoughts, and belief about homosexuality, bisexuality, and sexual orientation.
- Understand heterosexual privilege.
- Establish connections between heterosexism and other forms of oppression.
- Learn information that contradicts stereotypes about gay, bisexual, transgender individuals.
- Identify personal actions to address heterosexism and homophobia.
- Develop strategies of advocacy for self and other residential students.
Religion —
- Understand how religion is manifested in our personal lives as well as in our society.
- Identify and discuss actions that participants can undertake to embrace multiple views of religion.
- Develop strategies of advocacy for self and other residential students.
- Recognize discrimination that occurs because of presumptions of someone’s religion.
A Celebration of the Centennial of Bayard Rustin (1912-2012)
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Permission from the Estate of Bayard Rustin
Recent historical accounts have credited Bayard Rustin (Hon. Yale Ph.D 1984) with crafting the pacifist strategy of the modern Civil Rights Movement (1954-1965.) Acknowledgement of Rustin’s essential role in this American Movement has, in turn, reinforced Rustin’s reputation in international circles committed to human rights. In addition to organizing the March on Washington, Rustin introduced Martin Luther King, Jr., to Ghandian nonviolence and is credited with inspiring King’s decision to critique economic inequality as well as racial discrimination. Rustin’s life and accomplishments are little known to the American public, however. Historians now seem to agree that Rustin’s story has stayed relatively obscure because he was gay. Although Rustin never concealed his sexual orientation, other leaders of the Civil rights Movement concealed his membership in the most elite circles of the Movement, because the leadership did not support homosexual rights (an idea that began to take shape during the 1920s, in the United States, on the margins of U.S. social thought). Many Civil Rights leaders, in fact, disapproved of homosexuality on legal, moral, religious or personal grounds. In addition, some leaders of the Civil Rights Movement believed that Rustin’s homosexuality posed a security risk by drawing added attention from the FBI, which already monitored the behavior of the Movement’s participants at every level of their involvement in its activities.
During the fall of 2012, the Lillian Goldman Law Library and several Yale Law School student organizations will celebrate the Centennial of Bayard Rustin. The celebration will take place online and through hardcopy exhibits, as well as with events inside the Law School and at non-law Yale campus sites.
The following photographs and reproduced documents (just a few of those that will be included in the library exhibits) give a sense of Rustin’s life and work.
Go to the exhibit…
JULY 2012
I Must Resist – Updating Bayard Rustin’s Dream of Work for All
Michael Long, Author Andrea Shorter, CEO, Atlas Strategies
The March on Washington was largely about jobs and equality. And gay activist Rustin was a driving organizer behind the march at the culmination of which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous “I Have A Dream” speech. The community organizing legacies of Rustin and King continue today. Author Long talks in depth about this American patriot and the opportunities for civic engagement that exists every day for each of us.
MLF: LGBT Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID) Program Organizer: Julian Chang Also know: In association with Bayard Rustin LGBT Coalition and the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, Atlas Leadership Strategies, City Lights Books
Coalition Matters [featuring Bayard Rustin]
by JOSE VILSON on JULY 29, 2012
Anytime you mention Bayard Rustin’s name as a hero, you’re good in my book. The mastermind behind the 1963 March on Washington, Rustin rarely gets mentioned by the general public as a civil rights leader, and only seems to come up whenever people (again, rarely) talk about LGBT issues in activist / POC communities. The conversation only gets uglier when people dilute his image for their own political purpose, exalting him to heights I’m confident even he would dissuade.
Let me explain. As far as I can read (and I’ve read a lot), Rustin was associated with Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., and A. Phillip Randolph in various points of their ideological growths. For someone so determined on speaking truth to power, he sure made lots of friends across a broad spectra. That leads me to believe one very obvious yet unstated axiom: coalition matters. Having a set of people whose beliefs land anywhere from moderate to radical, then bringing them under one umbrella under a few tenets they can all believe, takes a serious effort on behalf of an actual revolutionary.
All this to say that we can learn from his example. If we want to rebuild public education in the progressive vision we believe, we have to stop bolstering differences and start spotlighting our similarities. For all the talk about who’s more revolutionary or progressive than the other based on different affiliations and their form of expression, I see a common thread amongst many of us, and that’s a deep concern about the direction of public education now, and the love we have for children. We want to improve learning / teaching conditions, reduce standardized testing, proffer more relevant and worldly curriculum, and redistribute funding for schools for more parity and equity. If we can settle on those four tenets, then we’ve set a solid foundation for truly transforming education in this country.
That’s also why I have no issue holding people on the “left” or “right” accountable: getting active around these ideas isn’t a matter of ego, but a matter of coalescence, of building. I’ve agreed with people some might consider rivals at any given moment in the education sphere, and call out those who stand against my core principles.
That’s speaking truth to power. That’s the essence of coalition. Speaking about andspeaking against. Action paired with speaking out.
“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”
Word, Mr. Rustin. Word.
San Francisco’s Anti Stop-and-Frisk Rally on July 17, 2012
San Franciscans Against “Stop and Frisk” Policy
LGBT Against Stop & Frisk and Racial Profiling
