“As a theoretician and tactician in the civil rights movement from the 1940s through the 1960s,” Rustin played an “indispensable” role on the ground that was “consistent without interruption,” says Dennis C. Dickerson, a historian at Vanderbilt University. Yet his contributions to the fight for equality have long been overlooked, in no small part because Rustin was an openly gay Black man at a time when homosexuality was criminalized in much of the United States.
Rustin, a new film starring Colman Domingo as the eponymous activist, rightfully shifts the historical perspective to recenter Bayard Rustin. Directed by George C. Wolfe (best known for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), the movie strives to capture the complexities of Rustin’s relationship with King (played by Aml Ameen) as they carried out the most visible demonstration for Black freedom in American history. As producers Bruce Cohen and Tonia Davis explain in an interview, Rustin was witty, charming and deeply intelligent—qualities they hoped to convey in the film. Wolfe, for his part, tells CBS News that Rustin is “an American hero, who not only contributed heavily to one of the most significant peaceful demonstrations that has ever happened in this country but … also wrote the book on how to stage such an event.”
Bringing Rustin’s story to the screen
Rustin explores its subject’s career as a civil rights organizer, focusing specifically on his affiliation with King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), his termination from that position on account of his sexuality and his leadership of the 1963 March on Washington. The bulk of the film depicts the process of organizing the march as all the prominent civil rights leaders negotiated with one another to hammer out the specifics.
Chris Rock (playing Roy Wilkins) and Jeffrey Wright (as Adam Clayton Powell Jr.) offer commanding performances as the film’s antagonists, entrenched Black power brokers hesitant to upset the status quo. They are rivaled, however, by Glynn Turman, who brilliantly captures Randolph’s commanding presence within the movement and the depth of his devotion to Rustin.
Though the film underscores the difficulties Rustin faced because of his sexuality, its primary message is one of hope and collaboration. As Cohen and Davis explain, the filmmakers strived to create a movie that reflected Rustin’s inspiring charisma.
Here’s what you need to know about the man behind the film ahead of its arrival in select theaters on November 3. Rustin will be available to stream on Netflix on November 17.
