One of the most important figures of the American civil rights movement, Bayard Rustin taught Martin Luther King Jr. the methods of Gandhi, spearheaded the 1963 March on Washington, and helped bring the struggle of African Americans to the forefront of a nation's consciousness. But despite his incontrovertibly integral role in the movement, the openly gay Rustin is not the household name that many of his activist contemporaries are. In exploring history's Lost Prophet, acclaimed historian John D'Emilio explains why Rustin's influence was minimized by his peers and why his brilliant strategies were not followedor were followed by those he never meant to help.
Industry Reviews
George Chauncey author of "Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940" In this absorbing reappraisal of Bayard Rustin's tumultuous life and times, John D'Emilio shows how Rustin became one of the most brilliant and influential strategists of the peace and civil rights movements in the 1950s, and then came to be reviled as a conservative by many leftists in the late 1960s. D'Emilio also provides a stunning account of how Rustin's homosexuality shaped his career, as his foes -- from Strom Thurmond to Adam Clayton Powell -- tried to use it to discredit his leadership and force him into the shadows. This revelatory work of biography finally restores Rustin to history in all of his complexity and humanity. "Lost Prophet is one of the saddest stories you will ever read. Rustin was a charismatic leader, a lifelong pacifist, an imprisoned conscientious objector during World War II, and a leading American teacher of Gandhian nonviolence . . . But Rustin was also gay, decades before the Supreme Court legitimated private sexual activity, and that cost him the backing of some radicals, black as well as white, for whom he had been an eloquent and courageous leader for nearly 40 years. . . . D'Emilio succeeds in detailing a highly useful life and--a prime task of biography--in redeeming a nearly forgotten figure and assigning him a proper role in an era that becomes more beclouded and mythologized with every passing year." -- Tom Wicker "Los Angeles Times" "A lively, detailed, immensely readable account of this key figure of the 20th century, including information about his sexual life and relationships."--Ian Young "Torso " "D''Emilio''s biography is an important book about an important man, well researched, with particularly perceptive insights into gay culture in America as well as providing a solid account of the history of the peace movement and the civil rights struggle."--Gerald Early "New York Review of Books " "D''Emilio''s work contributes greatly to the literature of Bayard Rustin and the civil rights movement. . . . Thanks to D''Emilio, not only have we found a ''lost prophet, '' but we have a much better understanding of why he was lost in the first place."--Steve Estes "Journal of the History of Sexuality " "D'Emilio's work contributes greatly to the literature of Bayard Rustin and the civil rights movement. . . . Thanks to D'Emilio, not only have we found a 'lost prophet, ' but we have a much better understanding of why he was lost in the first place."--Steve Estes "Journal of the History of Sexuality " "D'Emilio's biography is an important book about an important man, well researched, with particularly perceptive insights into gay culture in America as well as providing a solid account of the history of the peace movement and the civil rights struggle."--Gerald Early "New York Review of Books " -A lively, detailed, immensely readable account of this key figure of the 20th century, including information about his sexual life and relationships.---Ian Young -Torso - -D'Emilio's work contributes greatly to the literature of Bayard Rustin and the civil rights movement. . . . Thanks to D'Emilio, not only have we found a 'lost prophet, ' but we have a much better understanding of why he was lost in the first place.---Steve Estes -Journal of the History of Sexuality - -D'Emilio's biography is an important book about an important man, well researched, with particularly perceptive insights into gay culture in America as well as providing a solid account of the history of the peace movement and the civil rights struggle.---Gerald Early -New York Review of Books - -Bayard Rustin became famous for working behind the scenes. The tactics of public protest that became familiar in the 1960s marches on Washington, Freedom Rides, sit-ins, passive resistance, civil disobedience were pioneered and refined by Rustin two decades earlier. Indeed, through his decisive influence on Martin Luther King Jr., Rustin created the model for the social movements of post-World War II America--civil rights, antiwar, gay liberation, feminist.-
--Michael Anderson -New York Times Book Review - -Lost Prophet is one of the saddest stories you will ever read. Rustin was a charismatic leader, a lifelong pacifist, an imprisoned conscientious objector during World War II, and a leading American teacher of Gandhian nonviolence . . . But Rustin was also gay, decades before the Supreme Court legitimated private sexual activity, and that cost him the backing of some radicals, black as well as white, for whom he had been an eloquent and courageous leader for nearly 40 years. . . . D'Emilio succeeds in detailing a highly useful life and--a prime task of biography--in redeeming a nearly forgotten figure and assigning him a proper role in an era that becomes more beclouded and mythologized with every passing year.-
--Tom Wicker -Los Angeles Times - "Bayard Rustin became famous for working behind the scenes. The tactics of public protest that became familiar in the 1960s marches on Washington, Freedom Rides, sit-ins, passive resistance, civil disobedience were pioneered and refined by Rustin two decades earlier. Indeed, through his decisive influence on Martin Luther King Jr., Rustin created the model for the social movements of post-World War II America--civil rights, antiwar, gay liberation, feminist."
--Michael Anderson "New York Times Book Review " ""Lost Prophet" is one of the saddest stories you will ever read. Rustin was a charismatic leader, a lifelong pacifist, an imprisoned conscientious objector during World War II, and a leading American teacher of Gandhian nonviolence . . . But Rustin was also gay, decades before the Supreme Court legitimated private sexual activity, and that cost him the backing of some radicals, black as well as white, for whom he had been an eloquent and courageous leader for nearly 40 years. . . . D'Emilio succeeds in detailing a highly useful life and--a prime task of biography--in redeeming a nearly forgotten figure and assigning him a proper role in an era that becomes more beclouded and mythologized with every passing year."
--Tom Wicker "Los Angeles Times "
