The architect of 1963’s momentous March on Washington, Bayard Rustin was one of the greatest activists and organizers the world has ever known. He challenged authority, never apologized for who he was, what he believed, or who he desired. And he did not back down. He made history, and in turn, he was forgotten. Directed by DGA Award and five-time Tony Award winner George C. Wolfe and starring Emmy Award winner Colman Domingo, Rustin shines a long overdue spotlight on the extraordinary man who, alongside giants like the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., Adam Clayton Powell Jr., and Ella Baker, dared to imagine a different world, and inspired a movement in a march toward
freedom.
A SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF BAYARD RUSTIN
Born in 1912, Bayard Rustin was a visionary civil rights activist who was a close advisor to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
A staunch proponent of non-violent protest, in part due to his Quaker upbringing, Rustin was the driving force behind organizing the historic March on Washington in 1963. He worked with a number of groups through the years, including serving as president of the A. Philip Randolph Institute, a civil rights organization in New York City, from 1966 to 1979. Of Rustin, King wrote to a colleague: “We are thoroughly committed to the method of nonviolence in our struggle and we are convinced that Bayard’s expertness and commitment in this area will be of inestimable value.”
Later in life Rustin turned his attention to LGBTQ+ activism and its intersection with the continuing civil rights fight, and was the first to bring the AIDS crisis to the attention of the NAACP. He passed away in 1987.
Because he was a gay man who was forced to live with the constraints and prejudices of the time—including beatings and arrests—his role in the movement was not widely publicized and thus the true significance of his contribution has been muted. He received recognition in 2013 when he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
- Directed by DGA award and five-time Tony award winner George C. Wolfe
- Produced by Academy Award winner Bruce Cohen, Higher Ground’s Tonia Davis and George C. Wolfe
- Screenplay by Julian Breece and Academy Award winner Dustin Lance Black
- Story by Julian Breece
- Executive produced by Higher Ground’s Barack & Michelle Obama, Mark R. Wright, Alex G. Scott, David Permut, Daniel Sladek, Chris Taaffe
- Academy Award nominee Andrew Mondshein (The Sixth Sense, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) edited the film
- And production design by Academy Award-nominated production designer Mark Ricker (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Bombshell, Trumbo)
- With costume design by Toni-Leslie James
- Cinematography by Tobias Schliessler (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, A Wrinkle in Time, Dreamgirls)
- The film’s score was composed by 3-time Grammy-winning saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and music historian Branford Marsalis. Multiple Grammy Award winner Lenny Kravitz also contributed an original song, “Road To Freedom.”
ABOUT THE CAST
- Tony Award nominee and Emmy Award winner Colman Domingo (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Zola, Euphoria) as Bayard Rustin, the architect of 1963’s momentous March on Washington and one of the greatest activists and organizers the world has ever known.
- Emmy and Grammy winner Chris Rock (Fargo, Untitled David O. Russell Project, Top Five) as Roy Wilkins, the top leader at the NAACP.
- Emmy winner Glynn Turman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Fargo) as A. Philip Randolph, a labor leader and civil rights activist who founded the nation’s first major Black labor union, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) in 1925. In the 1930s, his organizing efforts addressed racial discrimination in defense industries and segregation in the U.S. Armed Forces. Randolph was also a principal organizer of the March on Washington in 1963, which paved the way for passage of the Civil Rights Act the following year.
- Six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald (Respect, The Good Fight) as Ella Baker, a major force in shaping the development of the Civil Rights Movement in America. Ella Baker was co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) headed by Martin Luther King, Jr., and an inspiring force behind the creation of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
- Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe winner Jeffrey Wright (Angels in America, Westworld) as Adam Clayton Powell Jr., an American Baptist pastor and politician who represented the Harlem neighborhood of New York City in the United States House of Representatives from 1945 until 1971.
- Four-time Emmy nominee CCH Pounder (NCIS: New Orleans, The Shield) as Dr. Anna Hedgeman, political activist and educator. Her career spanned more than six decades as an advocate for civil rights. In 1963 she helped A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin plan the March on Washington and was the only woman among the key event organizers.
- National Film Award nominee Aml Ameen (Yardie) as Martin Luther King Jr., Baptist minister and social activist who rose to national prominence as head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
