On the eve of the 40th anniversary of the 1963 civil rights march on Washington, D'Emilio takes an unflinching look at the complicated life of the man who made it happen. That Rustin (1912–1987), a black civil rights activist, is not a household name has less to do with his accomplishments than that he was openly gay in an era that criminalized homosexuality, according to the author. D'Emilio (Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities: The Making of a Homosexual Minority in the United States, 1940–1970) believes the lack of attention paid to Rustin in 1960s history books is tragic, and he examines, in a refreshingly unsympathetic fashion, the reasons behind the snub, most notably Rustin's 1953 arrest for lewd vagrancy in Pasadena, Calif. Drawing on interviews with Rustin's colleagues, friends and lovers, D'Emilio explores all facets of the activist's life, from his Quaker upbringing and early imprisonment for draft dodging to his close but tenuous relationship with Martin Luther King Jr. "Rustin came to King... with a history that threatened as much as it promised" is how D'Emilio describes their first encounter. The book's dry chronological accounts are alleviated by personal anecdotes and D'Emilio's own heartfelt descriptions, resulting in a thorough, if at times heavy and unfocused, portrait. Rather than a generalist's account, the book seems oriented toward closing the book on lingering objections to Rustin as a major figure fit for mainstream textbooks. Historians will hopefully take note; meanwhile, a recent PBS documentary feels much more immediate on Rustin's achievements, relationships and way of being in the world. (Aug. 11)
FYI: A wonderful assemblage of polemical reportage, position papers and episodic memoirs,
Time on Two Crosses: The Collected Writings of Bayard Rustin, will also be available this fall, edited by UCLA Law and African American Studies professor Devon Carbado and Donald Weise, who co-edited
Black Like Us. (Cleis, $16.95 paper 400p ISBN 1-57344-174-0; Sept.)
