One of a series of short films produced in 1969 by Charles Grinker and Mert Koplin, “Which Way USA — Black Views on Race” provided brief portraits of many African American leaders including Martin Luther King, Cassius Clay, Malcolm X, Sidney Poitier, and others. This episode features Bayard Rustin (1912 – 1987) . Rustin was an African American leader who could trace his early work back to the 1940s and A. Philip Randolph’s “March on Washington”. He also helped organize Freedom Rides and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and supporting MLK’s activities including the March on Washington. He was also active as a proponent of socialism, nonviolence, and gay rights, and helped integrate formerly all white unions. Rustin was a gay man and, in the 1980s, became a public advocate on behalf of gay causes.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com