Velshi: Why the story of Bayard Rustin is important this Black Heritage Month

His name was Bayard Rustin. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1912 and raised by Quaker grandparents, who at an early age instilled in him the longstanding Quaker commitment to non-violence and peace. It was that inner peace - and the support of his grandmother - that allowed him to be comfortable in his own skin and come out as gay at an early age. Rustin spent years traveling across the country, giving speeches, and organizing, in pursuit of a more perfect society. He was arrested frequently; he even spent two years in prison for avoiding the World War II draft because his pacifist beliefs didn’t allow him to support the cause. In the early 1950s, at the behest of his mentor, Rustin traveled to Alabama to meet with a young up-and-coming civil rights leader named Martin Luther King Jr. Many historians say Martin Luther King, Jr. would not have been the man he became if not for Rustin.Feb. 6, 2022