Authors’ Presentation, Bayard Rustin: The Invisible Activist — May 2015 Library of Congress, Ed Ford, photographer, New York World Telegram & Sun Telegram World York New photographer, Ed Ford, Library of Congress, Bayard Rustin (center) speaking with (left to right) Carolyn Carter, Cecil Carter, Kurt Levister, and Kathy Ross, 1964 Now Available, a new biography for middle school ages and up… Jacqueline Houtman and Walter Naegle, authors of Bayard Rustin: The Invisible Activist (2014 QuakerPress of Friends General Conference), will present a program on the life of Bayard Rustin (1912–1987)—an African American Quaker, pacifist, teacher, organizer, advisor, gay man, and one of the most important, and least known, activists of the civil rights movement. An advisor to the Martin Luther King, Jr., he promoted nonviolent resistance, participated in one of the first Freedom Rides, organized the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and worked tirelessly for marginalized communities at home and abroad. As an openly gay African American, Bayard Rustin stood at the intersection of many of the struggles for equal rights. Walter Naegle is Bayard’s former partner and Jacqueline Houtman is a children’s author. In 2013, on Bayard Rustin’s behalf, Walter Naegle received the posthu- mous Medal of Freedom Award from Barack Obama.

We need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers —Bayard Rustin

o many, the civil rights movement brings to mind protests, marches, boycotts, and T freedom rides. They often think of people like Martin Luther King, Jr. or Rosa Parks. They seldom think of Bayard Rustin. Raised by his Quaker grandmother to believe in the value of every human being, Bayard made trouble wherever he saw injustice. As a teenager, he was arrested for sitting in the whites only section of a theater. More arrests followed, for protesting against segregation, discrimina- tion, and war. His belief in nonviolent action as a means for social change gave him a guiding vision for the civil rights movement, which he used to mentor the young Martin Luther King, Jr. When A. Philip Randolph needed the best organizer on the planet, he turned to Bayard Gene Herrick, Associated Press Gene Herrick, Rustin to bring 250,000 people to the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Illustrated with over sixty photos, this book is the product of a unique collaboration be- tween three authors: Bayard’s partner of ten years, a professor of religious studies, and a chil- dren’s book author. Though he is largely ignored in history books, Bayard’s ideas and actions will inspire today’s young (and not-so-young) readers to be angelic troublemakers. QuakerPress of Friends General Conference | www.quakerbooks.org | ISBN 978-1-937768-58-4 (paperback) | ISBN 978-1-937768-59-1 (digital)