The Man Who Taught Movements How to March: Bayard Rustin and the Politics of Nonviolence

Before Montgomery, before Greensboro, before the March on Washington, Bayard Rustin was experimenting with the tactics that would transform American protest. Black, gay, and for decades pushed to the margins of the history he helped make, Rustin carried lessons from lunch counters and segregated buses to the civil rights movement—and from there to anti-colonial struggles in Africa. His life also complicates familiar stories about where our deepest convictions come from: Rustin wasn’t raised a Quaker and taught nonviolence; he embraced Quakerism because he was already drawn to nonviolence. His remarkable journey offers lessons about movements, political power, religious identity, and how people change the world.

When: Sunday, September 13 at 11am EST
Where: In-Person (RSVP HERE FOR IN-PERSON) at 269 4th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215
&  Zoom* (RSVP HERE FOR VIRTUAL)
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William Beckler is President of the Board of Trustees of the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture. He has worked as a researcher and strategist with SEIU and as a faith-based community organizer with the Gamaliel Network, and now works in technology. He remains active in community organizing and social movements, with a longstanding interest in how movements develop the strategies, institutions, and moral commitments that allow them to build power and create lasting change.