[NEohioPAL] Please help me honor Bayard Rustin, an unsung hero of the Civil Rights Movement

[Michael Medcalf]

Honor Bayard Rustin, organizer of The March on Washington (1963) with the Presidential Medal of Freedom
    
Don't know Bayard Rustin? You're not alone. Rustin is the most significant organizer for civil rights in American history. He was the man behind MLK, teaching King everything he knew about nonviolent resistance, civil disobedience, and organizing. King would be no more than a prophetic preacher if Rustin hadn't introduced him to the ideas of Gandhi and given King the strategy to change the world through peace.


If Rustin is so important why is he forgotten? Bayard Rustin was gay.


When those opposed to The Movement learned of Rustin's sexual identity they sought to use it against the entire fight for civil rights-- even from the floor of Congress. As result, Rustin worked from the background and would be left out of history books.
President Obama, honor Rustin's sacrifice with this medal.


Copy and paste the link below to sign the petition.  Thanks!


https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/honor-bayard-rustin-organizer-march-washington-1963-presidential-medal-freedom/Xt0mPvPL





All my best,





Michael Medcalf, MFA Candidate
michael-medcalf at uiowa.edu
University of Iowa
Department of Dance
Graduate Program

 
"A mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimension."
-Oliver Wendell Holmes


 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.neohiopal.org/pipermail/neohiopal-neohiopal.org/attachments/20130211/9af530b9/attachment-0004.htm>