Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Review of Rustin

Enjoyable biopic about Bayard Rustin, black gay socialist pacifist who did most of the organising for the 1963 March on Washington, at which Martin Luther King spoke and made his "I have a dream" speech. This film is for all the people who do the organising but don't get to make the big speak. Rustin was clearly a wonderful leader who inspired people to give their all, despite the movement's disapproval of his sexuality. The film shows lots of behind the scenes manoeuvring in the Civil Rights movement, as well as giving a quite good potted history of the actual political processes and outcomes.

It (probably rightly) doesn't reveal that Rustin in his older years remained committed to workers' rights but became a neoconservative and was praised by Reagan after his death. 

Watched on Netflix.

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