In celebration: Black History Month

In honor of Black History month the Community-Driven Archives (CDA) team would like to take a moment to celebrate the life and incredible legacy of Bayard Rustin, a civil rights icon who was the chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom along with A. Philip Randolph and was also a collaborator of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.  

Rustin, born on March 17, 1912 in West Chester, Pennsylvania was a central figure in many key  civil rights protests and marches in the 1950s and 1960s including the Freedom Rides and helping to organize the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) which was a key arm for Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., during the fight for civil rights. Rustin, an openly gay black man, faced incredible adversity during his lifetime including 24 arrests one in which he was arrested in California for “engaging in public sex”. Additionally, Rustin had many controversial ideas for the time including being a socialist and opposing reparations for slavery.    

Learn more about Bayard Rustin’s life here. 

Contact me, Jessica Salow, with feedback at Jessica.Salow@asu.edu, as I would love to hear from you your thoughts regarding the work we here at ASU are doing in community archiving around Arizona. We also want your feedback on what you would like to see from us in future blog posts. See you next week!