This week From the Vault celebrates what would have been the 100th birthday of one of the unknown and unsung heroes of the American Civil Rights Movement, Bayard Rustin. Pacifica Radio is fortunate to curate several rare audio recordings with Rustin’s voice; two of these in particular are most-fitting to be shared in tribute. First, go back to 1968 for speech in Washington D.C. titled The Future of Minorities, in which Rustin focuses on the changing role for minorities in American society, and then dive even further back in history to 1960′s Negro Rights in Africa and America, a discussion between Rustin and Kenneth Kaunda (then-President of the United National Independence Party in Rhodesia) in which the two leaders examine civil rights in their respective countries.

From the Vault also chats with Michael G. Long, editor of I Must Resist: Bayard Rustin’s Life in Letters, a new book from City Lights Publishers which chronicles the life of the openly-gay and pacifist civil rights leader. Long is an associate professor of religious studies and peace and conflict studies at Elizabethtown College and is the author or editor of several books on civil rights, religion, and politics in mid-century America, including Marshalling Justice: The Early Civil Rights Letters of Thurgood Marshall and First Class Citizenship: The Civil Rights Letters of Jackie Robinson.

Visit City Lights Publishers to learn more about I Must Resist: Bayard Rustin’s Life in Letters.

From the Vault is presented through the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project, funded in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, past grants from the Grammy Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the American Archive funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, along with the generous support of Pacifica Radio listeners.

PURCHASE a copy of this program or learn more about the historic archival recordings used within this episode. To purchase a CD copy of this program by phone, please call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230 x 262.

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This entry was posted on Monday, March 19th, 2012 at 11:05 pm and is filed under Update. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.