Rustin, Bayard (1912–1987)

An important organizer of the civil rights movement, he worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr., promoting a philosophy of nonviolence informed by the Quaker religion, Mahatma Gandhi, and A. Philip Randolph. An incredibly effective organizer, he started working for King in 1955, assisting with the Montgomery boycott in 1956, and coordinating the March on Washington in 1963. He cofounded the A. Philip Randolph Institute for African American trade union members. His work in civil rights and LGBT advocacy gained him much renown, recorded in his writings in Down the Line (1971) and Strategies for Freedom (1976).