P.O.V. {POINT OF VIEW}: BROTHER OUTSIDER: THE LIFE OF BAYARD RUSTIN (TV)
Summary
One in this series of independently produced documentaries. This documentary tells the story of Bayard Rustin, the African-American civil rights activist whose homosexuality and one-time membership in the Communist Party made him the ultimate outsider despite his key role in the movement. The film uses interviews, archival footage, stills, government propaganda films, and Rustin's own first-person accounts (recorded in the 1970s) to weave together the story of his life. The program opens with a discussion of Rustin's high school days. John Rodgers, a classmate, talks about playing on the football team with Rustin, while Rustin's nephew Louis John details black/white relations at the school. Next, the film details his move to Harlem in 1937 where he attended City College and joined the Josh White Quartet to support himself. Excerpts from Rustin's FBI files detail how he was arrested in 1940 for being a conscientious objector to World War II, his association with the Communist Party, and his history as a homosexual who had been arrested for being a "suspected sexual pervert." Next, Rustin's years as an advisor to Martin Luther King, Jr. are detailed. Clips are shown from the 1963 March on Washington which Rustin helped organize with A. Philip Randolph and also spoke at, right before King's "I Have a Dream" speech. Clips show Robert Kennedy announcing the assassination of King and the rioting that followed. Later, archival footage is shown of civil rights debates from the 1960s, pitting Rustin against both Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael. The program ends showing the final years of Rustin's life in which he spearheaded relief efforts for the needy of Africa.
Cataloging of the program was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: January 20, 2003 Monday 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:29:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:78558
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - News/Talk; LGBT Collection; Biography; Activists; Communism
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1988-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Nancy Kates … Producer, Director
- Bennet Singer … Producer, Director
- Mridu Chandra … Co-Producer
- Heather Searles … Associate Producer
- B. Quincy Griffen … Music by
- Stokely Carmicheal
- Louis John
- Robert Kennedy
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Malcolm X
- A. Philip Randolph
- John Rodgers
- Bayard Rustin
- Josh White