++Selma was a nice way to spend New Year's day. My friend Bayard Rustin makes three appearances. The most notable when organizers say that Bayard could get a series of name entertainers and Harry Belafante would fly them down.
++The American civil rights movement inspired the world's pro-democracy movements. People misjudge why President Barack Obama being awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. The academy made frequent and pointed references to the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and that President Obama's election was the logical extension of that tradition.
++For all the myths surrounding the civil rights movement,we have to remember Dr.King was assassinated at the young age of 39. The power of that legacy is enormous but is threatened today.
++Selma could have ended with the Supreme Court's ruling last year to gut the Voting Rights Act and a montage at the end of all the voter suppression efforts in each state.
++The film portrays the divisions among the civil rights organizers and the disputes with SNCC. John Lewis said that he cried watching himself being beaten on Pettis Bridge. The character John Lewis seemed to appear the next day with just some bandages. Look at a YOUTUBE of the actually beating that shattered John Lewis skull. The young John Lewis joined Martin for the march from Selma to Montgomery against his the wishes of his SNCC colleagues.
++The most poignant moments of the film show Martin with his doubts and the struggles of a charismatic leader urging people to follow him when violence looked like their certain end.
++In Washington, the film has drawn criticism from former secretary Califano, who believes the film is too critical of LBJ. The LBJ figure was a little weak and doesn't capture the efforts of LBJ to King to tone down the movement, while he was working to introduce the Voter Rights Act. The actor was all wrong for the earthy figure. The only moment he shined was his one-to-one confrontations with George Wallace.
++J.Edgar didn't disappoint as the sinister figure placing disinformation about King and the movement.
++Oprah Winfrey is outstanding as an African-American woman trying to vote. The film actually portrays the difficulties of the African American community to register to vote--the poll tax, that you needed a registered voter to vouch for you, the crazy civics questions you had to answer. Most of this has been forgotten but has resurfaced in the last few years in different ways.
++The end music tries to tie the civil rights movement into Ferguson and make the film an anthem for the African-American community. It's difficult to find the right tone. Otherwise,the film was outstanding.
Showing posts with label Bayard Rustin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bayard Rustin. Show all posts
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Reid Goes Nuclear, Iran May Not
++Harry Reid has finally gone nuclear in the Senate. In a move to change filibuster rules for executive nominations, by late last night lingering Democrats signed on. The vote failed cloture this morning by three votes and Mitch McConnell moved to adjourn the Senate.
++Meanwhile in Geneva,negotiations have started on a nuclear deal with Iran, which would require them to suspend their nuclear program for six months until a comprehensive deal is negotiated. At the same time UN inspectors will be in the country examining sites. In return, Iran will get use of the funds that have been frozen and maybe a few of the UN sanctions will be eased. Israel and Senate Republicans are lobbying against the deal.
++Yesterday, legendary civil rights leader Bayard Rustin received the Presidential Medal of Freedom,along with many others. Receiving the award in his memory was his partner Walter Naegle. Unfortunately,press reports on the ceremony focused on the celebrity honorees and omitted his name. In the announcement, Bayard was honored for being an openly gay man who worked alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. But there was no mention of his great organizing achievement--the March on Washington.
++The Council of Economic Advisers released a study that showed health costs rose at the lowest level in fifty years after the ACA passed. They reported that 80% of those already insured were unaffected by ACA. Only 1.5% will have to pay higher for better policies. The report triggered an OMB report that calculated that Medicare and Medicaid would cost 10% less in the future because of this information. Jonathan Gruber, who worked on Romneycare in Massachusetts and Obamacare,said that the bulk of the savings was found in Medicare after the reforms. He dismissed the Recession as the reason because the economy has picked up but healthcare costs have not.
++The New York Times published a story on the GOP's memo about their unceasing campaign against Obamacare with details of the steps they will pursue to try and stop it. One of the new litmus tests for the Right is the prevention of the expansion of Medicaid.
++We are heading to another Government shutdown as Mitch McConnell met with GOP House leaders to tell them that there would be no budget deal unless there was substantial entitlement reform. Democrats want the sequester cuts lifted but GOP leadership insist on the budget caps.
++Luckily, Bloomberg reports that the debt ceiling will probably not be reached until May or June of next year, which would decouple the budget issue from the cataclysmic collapse of the global economy.
++While the GOP is doubling down on anything anti-President Obama, Democrats are beginning to get their sea legs on economic issues. Incredibly,ENDA, the bill against discriminating against gays and lesbians in employment, polls in the majority in every congressional district in America. But the bill will not come to the floor in the House. 29 states allow for the firing of an employee because he or she is gay or thought to be gay. Immigration reform still remains a Democratic issue and the House will not put it to a vote because it would pass. President Obama speaking to the Business Council, said he would agree to a piecemeal approach in the House as long as all the pieces were passed. On raising the minimum wage, Massachusetts just raised it to $11 per hour,New Jersey just passed it over-riding Chris Christie's veto, and Senate Democrats have taken up President Obama's call to raise the minimum wage to about $10 bucks. Instead of succumbing to the endless litany of cutting Social Security benefits,Elizabeth Warren, Sherrod Brown and Bernie Sanders are advocating an expansion of Social Security and strengthening it for a longer lifetime.If Democrats can hold tough on ACA, they re heading into the progressive direction.
++Contrary to these hopeful signs, the anti-Obama fervor continues its feverish rhetoric and pace. The new meme of the Right is that the President is a liar. I guess because of his statement on You can Keep Your Insurance if you want to. Rep. Darryl Issa is going to open an investigation of the Census Bureau's jobs report prior to the election, believing that tilted the election. Larry Klayman of Judicial Watch is calling for a Continental Congress to vote for a shadow President. He has given President Obama until Black Friday to resign. The Koch Brothers have ramped up their Anti-ACA ads against vulnerable Democratic Senators.
++Meanwhile in Geneva,negotiations have started on a nuclear deal with Iran, which would require them to suspend their nuclear program for six months until a comprehensive deal is negotiated. At the same time UN inspectors will be in the country examining sites. In return, Iran will get use of the funds that have been frozen and maybe a few of the UN sanctions will be eased. Israel and Senate Republicans are lobbying against the deal.
++Yesterday, legendary civil rights leader Bayard Rustin received the Presidential Medal of Freedom,along with many others. Receiving the award in his memory was his partner Walter Naegle. Unfortunately,press reports on the ceremony focused on the celebrity honorees and omitted his name. In the announcement, Bayard was honored for being an openly gay man who worked alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. But there was no mention of his great organizing achievement--the March on Washington.
++The Council of Economic Advisers released a study that showed health costs rose at the lowest level in fifty years after the ACA passed. They reported that 80% of those already insured were unaffected by ACA. Only 1.5% will have to pay higher for better policies. The report triggered an OMB report that calculated that Medicare and Medicaid would cost 10% less in the future because of this information. Jonathan Gruber, who worked on Romneycare in Massachusetts and Obamacare,said that the bulk of the savings was found in Medicare after the reforms. He dismissed the Recession as the reason because the economy has picked up but healthcare costs have not.
++The New York Times published a story on the GOP's memo about their unceasing campaign against Obamacare with details of the steps they will pursue to try and stop it. One of the new litmus tests for the Right is the prevention of the expansion of Medicaid.
++We are heading to another Government shutdown as Mitch McConnell met with GOP House leaders to tell them that there would be no budget deal unless there was substantial entitlement reform. Democrats want the sequester cuts lifted but GOP leadership insist on the budget caps.
++Luckily, Bloomberg reports that the debt ceiling will probably not be reached until May or June of next year, which would decouple the budget issue from the cataclysmic collapse of the global economy.
++While the GOP is doubling down on anything anti-President Obama, Democrats are beginning to get their sea legs on economic issues. Incredibly,ENDA, the bill against discriminating against gays and lesbians in employment, polls in the majority in every congressional district in America. But the bill will not come to the floor in the House. 29 states allow for the firing of an employee because he or she is gay or thought to be gay. Immigration reform still remains a Democratic issue and the House will not put it to a vote because it would pass. President Obama speaking to the Business Council, said he would agree to a piecemeal approach in the House as long as all the pieces were passed. On raising the minimum wage, Massachusetts just raised it to $11 per hour,New Jersey just passed it over-riding Chris Christie's veto, and Senate Democrats have taken up President Obama's call to raise the minimum wage to about $10 bucks. Instead of succumbing to the endless litany of cutting Social Security benefits,Elizabeth Warren, Sherrod Brown and Bernie Sanders are advocating an expansion of Social Security and strengthening it for a longer lifetime.If Democrats can hold tough on ACA, they re heading into the progressive direction.
++Contrary to these hopeful signs, the anti-Obama fervor continues its feverish rhetoric and pace. The new meme of the Right is that the President is a liar. I guess because of his statement on You can Keep Your Insurance if you want to. Rep. Darryl Issa is going to open an investigation of the Census Bureau's jobs report prior to the election, believing that tilted the election. Larry Klayman of Judicial Watch is calling for a Continental Congress to vote for a shadow President. He has given President Obama until Black Friday to resign. The Koch Brothers have ramped up their Anti-ACA ads against vulnerable Democratic Senators.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Bayard Rustin's Place In History
With the Gaddafi regime collapsing, it's fitting to see on Page 1 of the Washington Post an article on Bayard Rustin's role in the American civil rights movement. Steve Hendrix does a superb job of capturing the essential role Bayard played in making the March on Washington work. The man, who organized the March, was meticulous in planning the details from what kind of sandwiches were appropriate to training the volunteer police. Two subjects Bayard talked to me about--how to schedule the speakers and get some to tone down the rhetoric and the whole issue of toilets so that after the March the effect would not be spoiled by a mess. One source is quoted as saying that Bayard was like "Zelig, showing up at all the events in our age."
Never in the closet when he was growing up, his frank and open homosexuality provoked conflicts within the civil rights community as well as condemnation on the Hill where Strom Thurmond attacked Bayard as a homosexual, communist, draft-dodger--all true at one time. Pressure was always put on Martin Luther King and A. Philip Randolph to fire Bayard but they supported him against the most vicious attacks. At one point, Adam Clayton Powell threatened Martin Luther King, Jr. that he would say that Bayard was Martin's lover if he didn't get rid of him. Martin actually distanced himself from Bayard for a while.
In a short piece, Hendrix captures the essence of the man. But the most important part of the piece is not about Bayard being timely now with his gayness, it's the examples that are included about what he was concerned about when organizing a mass action. These are the lessons others have learned from him and applied elsewhere.
Never in the closet when he was growing up, his frank and open homosexuality provoked conflicts within the civil rights community as well as condemnation on the Hill where Strom Thurmond attacked Bayard as a homosexual, communist, draft-dodger--all true at one time. Pressure was always put on Martin Luther King and A. Philip Randolph to fire Bayard but they supported him against the most vicious attacks. At one point, Adam Clayton Powell threatened Martin Luther King, Jr. that he would say that Bayard was Martin's lover if he didn't get rid of him. Martin actually distanced himself from Bayard for a while.
In a short piece, Hendrix captures the essence of the man. But the most important part of the piece is not about Bayard being timely now with his gayness, it's the examples that are included about what he was concerned about when organizing a mass action. These are the lessons others have learned from him and applied elsewhere.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Happy Birthday Bayard Rustin!
Today is the birthday of one of our greatest unsung heros in political rights and civil liberties. This weekend in going through old papers, I found the invitation to the memorial service in New York for Bayard when he died in 1987. Bayard's photograph hangs behind my desk as it has since he died.
Next year will be the 100th anniversary of Bayard's birth. Brother Outsider, Bayard was black, gay and a pacifist in a country which despised all three. I have never met a person who could come close to the organizational genius of that man. He could take groups with such desparate agendas and wield them together to form a common purpose.
A master collector, he had unerring taste. Every time I ever tried to find a painting in Haiti that would top his judgement I always failed. He said that as I got older my eye for art would get better as good as his. It never has and never will.
Once when we were in Grenada after the American invasion, I discovered a gallery with the paintings of Geoffrey Holder's brother, a superb artist from Trinidad. Every day while I was there I would walk over to the gallery. For the years of the revolution, tourists never visited the island so these paintings were kept at incredibly low prices for their worth, except I didn't have the money. Finally, Bayard got annoyed and finally said,"You should always go into debt for art,you'll never regret it. Buy the damn things." I didn't and have always regretted it--they represented some of the best Caribbean painting to this day.
I only became the executive director of Freedom House because Bayard supported me and urged me to do it. And frankly after he died,I felt the spirit of the place never recovered, despite the best efforts of a talented staff. Bayard was always good for dropping in unexpectedly to give good advice. Exasperated by someone I wanted to fire, Bayard reminded me,"There is a use for everyone. Remember that."
His death was totally unexpected and shocking. His partner Walter Nagel and I accompanied Bayard to Haiti on a fact-finding mission. He was supposed to return to New York and then fly on to Detroit for a speech. Bayard was in fine form and good health during the whole trip. We returned to New York and Walter and Bayard took a cab back to their apartment and we all felt that the mission was accomplished. A day or so later I received a call from Walter that "We've lost Bayard." He had a ruptured appendix I recall and died at the hospital. It was as if the world opened up and swallowed us.
Many people and organizations have claimed Bayard as their own and they have every right to. He was an extraordinary man. And there are few just causes he didn't actively support. He still visits in my dreams.
There is a photo of a natty Bayard in a yellow sports car. Whenever I am making a major decision, there comes a time when I dream of Bayard, who pulls up in the sportcar, turns to me and says "Move On." and drives down the road out of view.
In the last few months, I have had the "pleasure" of watching (via Youtube) Bayard get arrested in various civil rights marches. Near the end of his life,he appeared on a local New York Talk Show where he talked about the police dogs, the fire hoses and the beatings. Then he said, "But it was fun." "Fun?" the moderator asked. "Yes, the cause was just and we knew we were going to win. That's what I consider fun."
Thanks to Bayard I know what to do when police release teargas and where to position myself if police charge a demonstration.
Today, he would be busy juggling trips to Wisconsin, Michigan and Egypt. He was a loyal trade unionist and used his position at the A. Philip Randolph Institute to organize voter drives for African-Americans. One of the ironies was that while Bayard and Norman Hill did this, Jesse Jackson got all the credit.
His life was an incredible journey and I will always treasure being along on part of it. One of Bayard's great legacies is that he cultivated a host of young talented people who would go on and play constructive roles in many organizations. He found something in everyone of them and maybe he was right,"Everyone has a use." or better purpose.
Happy Birthday, Bayardo
Oh , Puh-lease
Next year will be the 100th anniversary of Bayard's birth. Brother Outsider, Bayard was black, gay and a pacifist in a country which despised all three. I have never met a person who could come close to the organizational genius of that man. He could take groups with such desparate agendas and wield them together to form a common purpose.
A master collector, he had unerring taste. Every time I ever tried to find a painting in Haiti that would top his judgement I always failed. He said that as I got older my eye for art would get better as good as his. It never has and never will.
Once when we were in Grenada after the American invasion, I discovered a gallery with the paintings of Geoffrey Holder's brother, a superb artist from Trinidad. Every day while I was there I would walk over to the gallery. For the years of the revolution, tourists never visited the island so these paintings were kept at incredibly low prices for their worth, except I didn't have the money. Finally, Bayard got annoyed and finally said,"You should always go into debt for art,you'll never regret it. Buy the damn things." I didn't and have always regretted it--they represented some of the best Caribbean painting to this day.
I only became the executive director of Freedom House because Bayard supported me and urged me to do it. And frankly after he died,I felt the spirit of the place never recovered, despite the best efforts of a talented staff. Bayard was always good for dropping in unexpectedly to give good advice. Exasperated by someone I wanted to fire, Bayard reminded me,"There is a use for everyone. Remember that."
His death was totally unexpected and shocking. His partner Walter Nagel and I accompanied Bayard to Haiti on a fact-finding mission. He was supposed to return to New York and then fly on to Detroit for a speech. Bayard was in fine form and good health during the whole trip. We returned to New York and Walter and Bayard took a cab back to their apartment and we all felt that the mission was accomplished. A day or so later I received a call from Walter that "We've lost Bayard." He had a ruptured appendix I recall and died at the hospital. It was as if the world opened up and swallowed us.
Many people and organizations have claimed Bayard as their own and they have every right to. He was an extraordinary man. And there are few just causes he didn't actively support. He still visits in my dreams.
There is a photo of a natty Bayard in a yellow sports car. Whenever I am making a major decision, there comes a time when I dream of Bayard, who pulls up in the sportcar, turns to me and says "Move On." and drives down the road out of view.
In the last few months, I have had the "pleasure" of watching (via Youtube) Bayard get arrested in various civil rights marches. Near the end of his life,he appeared on a local New York Talk Show where he talked about the police dogs, the fire hoses and the beatings. Then he said, "But it was fun." "Fun?" the moderator asked. "Yes, the cause was just and we knew we were going to win. That's what I consider fun."
Thanks to Bayard I know what to do when police release teargas and where to position myself if police charge a demonstration.
Today, he would be busy juggling trips to Wisconsin, Michigan and Egypt. He was a loyal trade unionist and used his position at the A. Philip Randolph Institute to organize voter drives for African-Americans. One of the ironies was that while Bayard and Norman Hill did this, Jesse Jackson got all the credit.
His life was an incredible journey and I will always treasure being along on part of it. One of Bayard's great legacies is that he cultivated a host of young talented people who would go on and play constructive roles in many organizations. He found something in everyone of them and maybe he was right,"Everyone has a use." or better purpose.
Happy Birthday, Bayardo
Oh , Puh-lease
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