| − | '''Bayard Rustin''' (March 17, 1912 – August 24, 1987) was a lifelong socialist, one-time Communist, homosexual activist, and secretary to the Reverend Dr. [[Martin Luther King, Jr.]]. He was instrumental in the United States' civil rights movement of the 1950s and '60s, and organized the 1964 "March on Washington." Born into a Quaker family, Rustin had a comfortable childhood in West Chester, Pennsylvania. In the 1930s he dropped out of West Chester State College, moving to Harlem, where he sang in local clubs with African American folk artists Huddie Ledbetter and the loyal Stalinist<ref>During the [[Nazi-Soviet pact]], "White ... lent his talents ... to the Almanac Singers' anti-draft album, ''Songs for John Doe'' (May, 1941).... On June 22, 1941, Hitler invaded Soviet Russia, and the Hitler-Stalin pact-inspired anti-militarism of ''Songs for John Doe'' was forgotten." <ref>[http://www.culturalequity.org/alanlomax/ce_alanlomax_profile_josh_white.php Josh White], culturalequity.org</ref> Josh White.<ref>[http://www.congressofracialequality.org/bayard-rustin.html Bayard Rustin (1910-1987): Civil Rights Leader & Political Organizer], Congress of Racial Equality</ref> | + | '''Bayard Rustin''' (March 17, 1912 – August 24, 1987) was a lifelong socialist, one-time Communist, homosexual activist, and secretary to the Reverend Dr. [[Martin Luther King, Jr.]]. He was instrumental in the United States' civil rights movement of the 1950s and '60s, and organized the 1964 "March on Washington." Born into a Quaker family, Rustin had a comfortable childhood in West Chester, Pennsylvania. In the 1930s he dropped out of West Chester State College, moving to Harlem, where he sang in local clubs with African American folk artists Huddie Ledbetter and the loyal Stalinist<ref>During the [[Nazi-Soviet pact]], "White ... lent his talents ... to the Almanac Singers' anti-draft album, ''Songs for John Doe'' (May, 1941).... On June 22, 1941, Hitler invaded Soviet Russia, and the Hitler-Stalin pact-inspired anti-militarism of ''Songs for John Doe'' was forgotten." [http://www.culturalequity.org/alanlomax/ce_alanlomax_profile_josh_white.php Josh White], culturalequity.org</ref> Josh White.<ref>[http://www.congressofracialequality.org/bayard-rustin.html Bayard Rustin (1910-1987): Civil Rights Leader & Political Organizer], Congress of Racial Equality</ref> |
| | He studied at the City College of New York, which in the 1930s produced a large number of famous socialists, Trotskyites, fellow-travelers, Stalinists, and even some Soviet agents, including [[Julius Rosenberg]]. | | He studied at the City College of New York, which in the 1930s produced a large number of famous socialists, Trotskyites, fellow-travelers, Stalinists, and even some Soviet agents, including [[Julius Rosenberg]]. |