‘BROTHER OUTSIDER: The Life of Bayard Rustin’ Returns To Television Across The US

To this day, few know that Martin Luther King, Jr.’s right hand man, the architect of the March on Washington, was openly-gay African-American Bayard Rustin. 

To mark the 50th Anniversary year of the Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C., and in time for African-American History Month, BROTHER OUTSIDER: The Life of Bayard Rustin returns to television screens across the U.S. in a special 10th Anniversary Expanded Edition.

On Sunday, February 3, at 8:00 pm ET (check local listings) an Expanded Edition of BROTHER OUTSIDER premieres in the America ReFramed series on public television WORLD stations across the U.S.

This award winning documentary explores the life and work of civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, his influence on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., his role organizing the 1963 March on Washington, D.C., and his legacy.

Five years in the making and the winner of more than 25 awards and honors in the U.S. and abroad, BROTHER OUTSIDER: The Life of Bayard Rustin illuminates the life and work of this visionary activist and strategist who has been called “the unknown hero” of the civil rights movement.
A tireless crusader for social and economic justice, a disciple of Gandhi, and a mentor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rustin dared to live as an openly gay man during the fiercely homophobic 1940’s, 1950’s and 1960’s. BROTHER OUTSIDER reveals the price that Rustin paid for this openness, chronicling both the triumphs and setbacks of his remarkable 60-year career.

READ: Bayard Rustin, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Gay Strategist, Deserves Better

Produced and directed by independent filmmakers Nancy Kates and Bennett Singer, the film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and on the acclaimed PBS P.O.V. series. Subsequently, BROTHER OUTSIDER has been shown at the United Nations, The Kennedy Center, The Library of Congress, The Department of Labor, The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and in numerous countries around the globe, including South Africa, India, Poland, England, Italy, Iceland, South Korea, Serbia and the Czech Republic. In addition to hundreds of screenings in schools, libraries, and community forums, the film has been used by The Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, GLSEN, GMHC, The New York Civil Liberties Union, The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and Southerners on New Ground. In 2012, Bill Moyers named the film to his list of “Ten Documentaries on Champions of Social Justice.”

In newly shot footage Producer-Director Bennett Singer, acclaimed journalist Farai Chideya, and series host Natasha Del Toro discuss Rustin’s ongoing relevance, the similarities and differences between the 1960’s civil rights movement and the current fight for LGBTQ rights, as well as the progress of social justice in the United States fifty years after the historic march that Rustin organized, BROTHER OUTSIDER paints an inspiring and eye-opening portrait of a unique American dedicated to bringing about racial equality, economic justice and human rights through nonviolent activism.

Described as “brilliant” (The Wall Street Journal), “powerful and startling” (The Advocate), “poignant” (Time), “rich in humanity” (Africana.com), and “a potent and persuasive piece of historical rediscovery” (Los Angeles Times) BROTHER OUTSIDER is a riveting look at a man whose legacy is now being re-discovered and honored.

READ: Civil Rights Gay Pioneer Bayard Rustin Awarded 100th Birthday Proclamation

READ: New Orleans Proclaims Today LGBT Civil Rights Equality Awareness Day To Honor Bayard Rustin

 

For more information, visit BROTHER OUTSIDER: The Life of Bayard Rustin. You can also view the trailer for BROTHER OUTSIDER, or visit the Brother Outsider channel on YouTube.

All images courtesy of the Estate of Bayard Rustin, used with permission.

 

Stuart Wilber believes that living life openly as a Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Allied person is the most powerful kind of activism. Shortly after meeting his partner in Chicago in 1977, he opened a gallery named In a Plain Brown Wrapper, where he exhibited cutting edge work by leading artists; art that dealt with sexuality and gender identification. In the late 1980’s when they moved to San Clemente, CA in Orange County, life as an openly gay couple became a political act. They moved to Seattle 16 years ago and married in Canada a few weeks after British Columbia legalized same-​sex marriage. When Marriage Equality became the law in Washington State, they married on the first possible day permitted which was the first day of their 36th year together. Although legally married in some states and some countries, they are still treated as second class citizens by the federal government. Equality continues to elude him. (Photo by Mathew Ryan Williams)