Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin

 

Brother Outsider essentially deals with the life of Bayard Rustin, an individual that played a significant role in the Civil Rights Movement. It focuses on the life of this remarkable individual that sought to ensure that the Civil Rights cause became successful and was influential on Martin Luther King Jr. Among the most noteworthy incidents in the life of this individual that is covered in the film involves the beginning of his activism when he refused to vacate a whites only restaurant and ended up being arrested. The film also reveals that Rustin was gay and proudly so at a time when homophobia was extremely prevalent in society and many individuals, even those in support of the Civil Rights movement, were not comfortable being associated with a gay person (Kates, Singer, & Pollard, 2002). It is noted that because of the considerable negative publicity that his sexual orientation would have brought to the Civil Rights Movement, Rustin tended to work in the background and whenever he was asked whether he was gay, he gave circumspect answers in order to protect the reputation of his comrades. Despite these incidents, Rustin is portrayed as a courageous individual that sought to make sure that there was the advancement of the interests of the deprived members of society. This film provides the audience with a glimpse into the life an extremely influential individual in the Civil Rights Movement and this is to such an extent that it shows the personal sacrifices and difficulties that many prominent members of this movement had to endure in order to ensure its success.