No Easy Answers: Bayard Rustin and the Civil Rights Movement

Looks at the life of Bayard Rustin, an organizer behind the scenes of the civil rights movement whose ideas influenced Martin Luther King, Jr.

Grade 9 Up–Until recently, Rustin has gotten short shrift when people recall leaders of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. He organized the 1963 March on Washington and worked closely with Dr. King as his mentor and instructor in Gandhian nonviolent tactics. He urged King to create an organization to further the aims of black civil rights after the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Miller captures this important figure's fascinating life, bumps and all. He does this by exploring perhaps one of the central issues in Rustin's life–his homosexuality. Because the author has chosen to focus on this aspect of the man that is oftened glossed over or ignored, his book is an excellent starting point for students to learn about an almost forgotten leader.–Carol Jones Collins, Columbia High School, Maplewood, NJ
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Gr. 7-10. In a clear, compelling narrative, Miller combines the life story of a great social activist with the history of the struggle for civil rights in the U.S. The politics are exciting, with details of the radical campaigns in the 1940s and 1950s, Rustin's impassioned call for nonviolent protest, and his role in organizing both the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the 1963 March on Washington. Rustin, a global peace leader who traveled to India and many African countries, returned from abroad to serve on a prison chain gang for his activism. His personal story is just as moving as his political one: his homosexuality played a large role in his being banished from the limelight. The illustrations seem cramped, but the type is spacious, and readers will find chapter notes for direct quotes and a time line, as well as a bibliography and a list of Web sites they can use to find out more. Hazel Rochman
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