Press Room

The Center Celebrates Bayard Rustin's 100th Birthday

Thu, March 29 2012

Media Contact

Cindi Creager, Director of Communications & Marketing
(212) 620-7310, ccreager@gaycenter.org

The Center Celebrates Bayard Rustin's 100th Birthday

Commemorating the centennial year of the gay civil rights leader with a documentary screening followed by a conversation with Rustin's surviving partner

The LGBT Center is celebrating the life and legacy of gay civil rights activist Bayard Rustin on the centennial of his birth!

Screening of the acclaimed documentary Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin, by Bennett Singer and Nancy Kates, followed by a conversation with Walter Naegle, surviving partner of Bayard Rustin, and Michael Long, editor of the new book I Must Resist: Bayard Rustin's Life in Letters, just published by City Lights. Books and DVDs will be available for sale that evening; Long will be signing copies of his book.

A master strategist and tireless activist, Bayard Rustin is best remembered as the organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, one of the largest nonviolent protests ever held in the United States. He brought Gandhi’s protest techniques to the American civil rights movement, and helped mold Martin Luther King, Jr. into an international symbol of peace and nonviolence.

Despite these achievements, Rustin was silenced, threatened, arrested, beaten, imprisoned and fired from important leadership positions, largely because he was an openly gay man in a fiercely homophobic era. Five years in the making and the winner of numerous awards, Brother Outsider presents a feature-length documentary portrait, focusing on Rustin's activism for peace, racial equality, economic justice and human rights.

WHAT/WHO Screening of the acclaimed documentary Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin, by Bennett Singer and Nancy Kates, followed by a conversation with Walter Naegle, surviving partner of Bayard Rustin, and Michael Long, editor of the new book I Must Resist: Bayard Rustin's Life in Letters.
WHEN
Tuesday, April 3, 2012, 6:30 PM
WHERE

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center
208 West 13th Street
New York City
CONTACT

Press should RSVP to: Cindi Creager, Director or Communications & Marketing for press credentialing at the event (646) 358-1703, ccreager@gaycenter.org

 

About the Center

A beacon of hope for 29 years, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center builds and supports our community through arts and culture, wellness and recovery, family services and life-saving youth programs designed to foster healthy development in a safe, affirming environment. The Center envisions a world where LGBT people will no longer face discrimination or isolation because of who we are or who we love. We offer a welcoming home to 300,000 visitors each year and we are committed to serving all LGBT people through a variety of programs, services and activities that are designed to meet existing and emerging needs.The Center is many things to many people. We invite you to experience our home at 208 West 13th Street in person and online at gaycenter.org