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The Standard
9 hours ago
- Politics
- The Standard
Things to know about the release of federal documents related to MLK's assassination
FILE - Martin Luther King Jr., head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, speaks to thousands during his "I Have a Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Aug. 28, 1963, in Washington. (AP Photo/File)
Los Angeles Times
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
A Bayard Rustin archive aims to preserve his legacy as a queer Civil Rights activist
NEW YORK — Social justice advocates are creating a queer history archive that celebrates Bayard Rustin, a major organizer in the Civil Rights Movement and key architect of the March on Washington. The Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice will launch a digital archive this fall featuring articles, photos, videos, telegrams, speeches and more tied to Rustin's work. Sourced from museums, archives and personal accounts, it's designed as a central space where others can add their own stories, creating a living historical record. 'There's this hole in our history,' said Robt Martin Seda-Schreiber, the center's founder and chief activist. 'And there are great resources about Bayard, but they're all spread out, and none of it has been collected and put together in the way that he deserves, and more importantly, the way the world deserves to see him.' Rare footage of Rustin speaking at a 1964 New York rally for voting rights marchers who were beaten in Selma, Ala., was recently uncovered and digitized by Associated Press archivists. Other AP footage shows him addressing a crowd during a 1967 New York City teachers' strike. 'We are here to tell President Johnson that the Black people, the trade union movement, white people of goodwill and the church people — Negroes first — put him where he is,' Rustin states at the 1964 rally. 'We will stay in these damn streets until every Negro in the country can vote!' The legacy of Rustin — who died in 1987 aged 75 — reaches far beyond the estimated 250,000 people he rallied to attend the March on Washington in 1963, when Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his 'I Have A Dream' speech. Rustin also played a pivotal role behind the scenes, mentoring King and orchestrating the Montgomery bus boycott. And his influence still guides activism today, reminding younger generations of the power the community holds in driving lasting change through nonviolence, said David J. Johns, a queer Black leader based in Washington, D.C. 'Being an architect of not just that moment but of the movement, has enabled so many of us to continue to do things that are a direct result of his teaching and sacrifice,' said Johns. He is the chief executive and executive director of the National Black Justice Collective, which attributes its advocacy successes in the Black queer space to Rustin's legacy. Rustin was born into activism, according to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute. His grandparents, Julia Davis and Janifer Rustin, instilled in him and his 11 siblings the value of nonviolence. His grandmother was a member of the NAACP, so Rustin was surrounded and influenced by leaders including the activist and scholar W.E.B. Du Bois and James Weldon Johnson, who wrote 'Lift Every Voice and Sing.' Rustin was expelled from Wilberforce University in 1936 after he organized a strike against racial injustice. He later studied at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, the nation's first historically Black college, then moved to New York during the Harlem Renaissance to engage more deeply with political and social activism. He attended the City College of New York and joined the Young Communist League for its stance against segregation. Rustin was arrested 23 times, including a 1953 conviction in Pasadena, for vagrancy and lewd conduct — charges commonly used then to criminalize LGBTQ+ people. He served 50 days in jail and lost a tooth after being beaten by police. California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a posthumous pardon in 2020, acknowledging Rustin had been subjected to discrimination. Rustin and figures such as Marsha P. Johnson, a prominent transgender activist during the gay rights movement, continue inspire the LGBTQ+ community because they 'were super intentional and unapologetic in the ways in which they showed up,' Johns said. 'I often think about Bayard and the March on Washington, which he built in record time and in the face of a whole lot of opposition,' Johns said. Walter Naegle, Rustin's partner and a consultant on projects related to his life and work, said it's important for the queer community to have access to the history of social movements. 'There wasn't very much of an LGBTQ+ movement until the early 50s,' said Naegle. 'The African American struggle was a blueprint for what they needed to do and how they needed to organize. And so to have access to all of the Civil Rights history, and especially to Bayard's work — because he was really the preeminent organizer — I think it's very important for the current movements to have the ability to go back and look at that material.' Rustin's sexuality and his former association with the Young Communist League forced him to step away as a Civil Rights leader for several years. In 1960, New York congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr. threatened to spread false rumors that Rustin and King were intimately involved, weaponizing widespread homophobia to undermine their cause, according to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute. But Rustin resumed his work in 1963 as chief organizer of the March on Washington, which became a defining moment in the Civil Rights Movement and paved the way for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In 2023, Netflix released the biopic 'Rustin.' Filmmaker and co-writer Julian Breece, who is Black and queer, grew up in the '90s when, he said, being gay still correlated with the spread of AIDS, leading to shame and isolation. But he learned about Rustin's impact on the Civil Rights Movement and found a peer to admire. 'Seeing a picture of Rustin with King, who is the opposite of all those things, it let me know there was a degree to which I was being lied to and that there was more for me potentially, if Bayard Rustin could have that kind of impact,' Breece said. 'I wanted Black gay men to have a hero they could look up to,' he said. Green writes for the Associated Press.
NBC News
08-07-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
A Bayard Rustin archive aims to preserve his legacy as a queer Civil Rights activist
Social justice advocates are creating a queer history archive that celebrates Bayard Rustin, a major organizer in the Civil Rights Movement and key architect of the March on Washington. The Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice will launch a digital archive this fall featuring articles, photos, videos, telegrams, speeches, and more tied to Rustin's work. Sourced from museums, archives, and personal accounts, it's designed as a central space where others can add their own stories, creating a living historical record. "There's this hole in our history," said Robt Martin Seda-Schreiber, the center's founder and chief activist. "And there are great resources about Bayard, but they're all spread out, and none of it has been collected and put together in the way that he deserves, and more importantly, the way the world deserves to see him." Rare footage of Rustin speaking at a 1964 New York rally for voting rights marchers who were beaten in Selma, Alabama, was recently uncovered and digitized by Associated Press archivists. Other AP footage shows him addressing a crowd during a 1967 New York City teachers strike. "We are here to tell President Johnson that the Black people, the trade union movement, white people of goodwill and the church people — Negroes first — put him where he is," Rustin states at the 1964 rally. "We will stay in these damn streets until every Negro in the country can vote!" Rustin mentored the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The legacy of Rustin — who died in 1987 aged 75 — reaches far beyond the estimated 250,000 people he rallied to attend the March on Washington in 1963, when the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have A Dream" speech. Rustin also played a pivotal role behind the scenes, mentoring King and orchestrating the Montgomery bus boycott. And his influence still guides activism today, reminding younger generations of the power the community holds in driving lasting change through nonviolence, said David J. Johns, a queer Black leader based in Washington, D.C. "Being an architect of not just that moment but of the movement, has enabled so many of us to continue to do things that are a direct result of his teaching and sacrifice," said Johns. He is the CEO and executive director of the National Black Justice Collective, which attributes its advocacy successes in the Black queer space to Rustin's legacy. Rustin was born into activism, according to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research & Education Institute. His grandparents, Julia Davis and Janifer Rustin, instilled in him and his 11 siblings the value of nonviolence. His grandmother was a member of the NAACP, so Rustin was surrounded and influenced by leaders including the activist and scholar W.E.B. Du Bois and James Weldon Johnson, who wrote "Lift Every Voice and Sing." Rustin was expelled from Wilberforce University in 1936 after he organized a strike against racial injustice. He later studied at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, the nation's first historically Black college, then moved to New York during the Harlem Renaissance to engage more deeply with political and social activism. He attended the City College of New York and joined the Young Communist League for its stance against segregation. Rustin served jail time and was posthumously pardoned Rustin was arrested 23 times, including a 1953 conviction in Pasadena, California, for vagrancy and lewd conduct — charges commonly used then to criminalize LGBTQ+ people. He served 50 days in jail and lost a tooth after being beaten by police. California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a posthumous pardon in 2020, acknowledging Rustin had been subjected to discrimination. Rustin and figures such as Marsha P. Johnson, a prominent transgender activist during the gay rights movement, continue inspire the LGBTQ+ community because they "were super intentional and unapologetic in the ways in which they showed up," Johns said. "I often think about Bayard and the March on Washington, which he built in record time and in the face of a whole lot of opposition," Johns said. Walter Naegle, Rustin's partner and a consultant on projects related to his life and work, said it's important for the queer community to have access to the history of social movements. "There wasn't very much of an LGBTQ+ movement until the early 50s," said Naegle. "The African American struggle was a blueprint for what they needed to do and how they needed to organize. And so to have access to all of the Civil Rights history, and especially to Bayard's work — because he was really the preeminent organizer — I think it's very important for the current movements to have the ability to go back and look at that material." Rustin had to step away from leadership for several years Rustin's sexuality and his former association with the Young Communist League forced him to step away as a Civil Rights leader for several years. In 1960, New York congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr. threatened to spread false rumors that Rustin and King were intimately involved, weaponizing widespread homophobia to undermine their cause, according to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute. But Rustin resumed his work in 1963 as chief organizer of the March on Washington, which became a defining moment in the Civil Rights Movement and paved the way for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In 2023, Netflix released the biopic, " Rustin. " Filmmaker and co-writer Julian Breece, who is Black and queer grew up in the '90s when, he said, being gay still correlated with the spread of AIDS, leading to shame and isolation. But he learned about Rustin's impact on the Civil Rights Movement and found a peer to admire. "Seeing a picture of Rustin with King, who is the opposite of all those things, it let me know there was a degree to which I was being lied to and that there was more for me potentially, if Bayard Rustin could have that kind of impact," Breece said.
08-07-2025
- Politics
A Bayard Rustin archive aims to preserve his legacy as a queer Civil Rights activist
NEW YORK -- Social justice advocates are creating a queer history archive that celebrates Bayard Rustin, a major organizer in the Civil Rights Movement and key architect of the March on Washington. The Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice will launch a digital archive this fall featuring articles, photos, videos, telegrams, speeches, and more tied to Rustin's work. Sourced from museums, archives, and personal accounts, it's designed as a central space where others can add their own stories, creating a living historical record. 'There's this hole in our history,' said Robert Martin, the center's founder and chief activist. 'And there are great resources about Bayard, but they're all spread out, and none of it has been collected and put together in the way that he deserves, and more importantly, the way the world deserves to see him.' Rare footage of Rustin speaking at a 1964 New York rally for voting rights marchers who were beaten in Selma, Alabama, was recently uncovered and digitized by Associated Press archivists. Other AP footage shows him addressing a crowd during a 1967 New York City teachers strike. 'We are here to tell President Johnson that the Black people, the trade union movement, white people of goodwill and the church people — Negroes first — put him where he is,' Rustin states at the 1964 rally. 'We will stay in these damn streets until every Negro in the country can vote!' The legacy of Rustin — who died in 1987 aged 75 — reaches far beyond the estimated 250,000 people he rallied to attend the March on Washington in 1963, when the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his 'I Have A Dream' speech. Rustin also played a pivotal role behind the scenes, mentoring King and orchestrating the Montgomery bus boycott. And his influence still guides activism today, reminding younger generations of the power the community holds in driving lasting change through nonviolence, said David J. Johns, a queer Black leader based in Washington, D.C. 'Being an architect of not just that moment but of the movement, has enabled so many of us to continue to do things that are a direct result of his teaching and sacrifice,' said Johns. He is the CEO and executive director of the National Black Justice Collective, which attributes its advocacy successes in the Black queer space to Rustin's legacy. Rustin was born into activism, according to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research & Education Institute. His grandparents, Julia Davis and Janifer Rustin, instilled in him and his 11 siblings the value of nonviolence. His grandmother was a member of the NAACP, so Rustin was surrounded and influenced by leaders including the activist and scholar W.E.B. Du Bois and James Weldon Johnson, who wrote 'Lift Every Voice and Sing.' Rustin was expelled from Wilberforce University in 1936 after he organized a strike against racial injustice. He later studied at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, the nation's first historically Black college, then moved to New York during the Harlem Renaissance to engage more deeply with political and social activism. He attended the City College of New York and joined the Young Communist League for its stance against segregation. Rustin was arrested 23 times, including a 1953 conviction in Pasadena, California, for vagrancy and lewd conduct — charges commonly used then to criminalize LGBTQ+ people. He served 50 days in jail and lost a tooth after being beaten by police. California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a posthumous pardon in 2020, acknowledging Rustin had been subjected to discrimination. Rustin and figures such as Marsha P. Johnson, a prominent transgender activist during the gay rights movement, continue inspire the LGBTQ+ community because they 'were super intentional and unapologetic in the ways in which they showed up,' Johns said. 'I often think about Bayard and the March on Washington, which he built in record time and in the face of a whole lot of opposition,' Johns said. Walter Naegle, Rustin's partner and a consultant on projects related to his life and work, said it's important for the queer community to have access to the history of social movements. 'There wasn't very much of an LGBTQ+ movement until the early 50s,' said Naegle. 'The African American struggle was a blueprint for what they needed to do and how they needed to organize. And so to have access to all of the Civil Rights history, and especially to Bayard's work — because he was really the preeminent organizer — I think it's very important for the current movements to have the ability to go back and look at that material.' Rustin's sexuality and his former association with the Young Communist League forced him to step away as a Civil Rights leader for several years. In 1960, New York congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr. threatened to spread false rumors that Rustin and King were intimately involved, weaponizing widespread homophobia to undermine their cause, according to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute. But Rustin resumed his work in 1963 as chief organizer of the March on Washington, which became a defining moment in the Civil Rights Movement and paved the way for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In 2023, Netflix released the biopic, ' Rustin. ' Filmmaker and co-writer Julian Breece, who is Black and queer grew up in the '90s when, he said, being gay still correlated with the spread of AIDS, leading to shame and isolation. But he learned about Rustin's impact on the Civil Rights Movement and found a peer to admire. 'Seeing a picture of Rustin with King, who is the opposite of all those things, it let me know there was a degree to which I was being lied to and that there was more for me potentially, if Bayard Rustin could have that kind of impact,' Breece said. 'I wanted Black gay men to have a hero they could look up to,' he said. ___
NBC News
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- NBC News
Kroger's Juneteenth cakes spark backlash: ‘This is a mockery!'
A Kroger in Atlanta, Georgia is going viral for its Juneteenth cake offerings. A TikTok video posted on June 17 shows haphazardly decorated desserts sitting in the bakery section of the supermarket. 'This is some bulls---,' TikToker @ says at the start of the video. 'Who the hell made this ugly-ass s---?' The video, which now has over 10 million views, shows shelves stocked with birthday cakes and other treats, then lands on a table selling Juneteenth cookie cakes. 'Y'all decorate everything else around here cute, everything else around here cute,' the TikToker says. 'But for Juneteenth, you wanna just throw something on a freaking cookie cake and expect someone to buy it.' Several desserts are shown, some with printed designs, others featuring phrases like 'FREE,' 'June 19 Free,' 'Congratulations' and 'Free @ Last' written off-center in icing. The phrase 'free at last' is known for being a prominent part of Martin Luther King's 'I Have A Dream' speech, borrowed from the title of a Negro-Spiritual song. And now the phrase, which represents a hard-fought struggle, is being featured on a supermarket cake, casually scribbled in internet shorthand. 'I'm a be in here bright, early in the morning to talk to somebody about this, because this is unacceptable,' concludes the TikToker, who did not respond to request for comment. 'Kroger count your days,' they added in the post's caption. 'Why even bother if you're going to lack creativity … This is a mockery!' In the comments section of the video, many agreed. 'Free @ last is just insane 😭😭😭😭,' commented one TikTok user. 'It's giving 'here damn' 💀,' wrote another. 'Gurl! Not the last one saying Congratulations,' added someone else. 'Like Congratulations You're free! 🤦🏽♀️🤭.' 'I would absolutely take that cake that says FREE,' wrote one Reddit user, and another replied, 'Yea I mean it's says FREE I thought it was free.' For its part, Kroger says the desserts featured in the video were 'inconsistent' with its 'provided guidance.' 'The products have been removed, and we've addressed this directly with the store teams and the customer who took the initial video,' it added. The removal of the controversial cookie cakes was confirmed by @ in a follow-up TikTok video. 'I still feel some type of way that they didn't replace them with better Juneteenth cakes,' she says. However, there were some folks on the internet who felt 'mixed' on the issue. An alleged Kroger employee on Reddit wrote, 'I understand that people here are overworked and underpaid like crazy. However, admittedly these cake are not the best looking and def could've been made better.' In response, other Reddit users said, 'It looks like they don't have an experienced cake decorator,' and pointed out that 'it was probably someone with minimal training and not much time, doing their best.' Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced enslaved people were free. This was two and a half years after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863. In June 1883, the Galveston Daily News reported on the 18th annual Emancipation Day — what would today be considered Juneteenth — celebrations across Texas. In 2022, Walmart drew backlash for releasing its own Juneteenth-themed ice cream, which critics said attempted to capitalize on a Black holiday rather than highlight already existing Black-owned ice cream brands. The chain later apologized to customers, writing, 'Juneteenth holiday marks a commemoration and celebration of freedom and independence. However, we received feedback that a few items caused concern for some of our customers and we sincerely apologize.'
