RUSTIN
An engaging civil rights drama with a superb lead performance
Cert: 15 Director: George C Wolfe Cast: Colman Domingo, Chris Rock, Jeffrey Wright Released: Out now
Rosa Parks. Martin Luther King Jr. Medgar Evers. Malcolm X. Among the renowned names associated with the civil rights movements, one person, until relatively recently, has been mostly forgotten: Bayard Rustin.
Rustin’s journey as a civil rights champion began during World War II, when he helped organise a march to end discrimination based on race in the military. He was also a close friend of Martin Luther King Jr, and an avowed pacifist. In the late summer of 1963, Rustin was instrumental in organising the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. It’s at this event in which one of the most famous speeches in history was made: King’s “I have a dream” (which isn’t shown in the film). Rustin and his team made this moment in time happen, and did so having to sidestep everything disgruntled and suspicious bureaucrats could throw at them.
George C Wolfe’s (2023) is solidly andbiopic back in 2008, and cohort Julian Breece, largely centred their script on the mammoth organising of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. We also get a clear picture of Rustin the man and his antagonisms with the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), which were spearheaded by two things: some did not like Rustin because he was gay (and he didn’t hide it), and he had former ties to the Communist Party. In mid-20th century America, these two facts did him no favours.
