Win Time on Two Crosses: The Collected Writings of Bayard Rustin from Cleis Press!
Win Time on Two Crosses: The Collected Writings of Bayard Rustin from Cleis Press! To enter the contest, fill out the form below between February 27 and March 20. The book includes a foreword by Barack Obama and afterword by Barney Frank.
Time on Two Crosses: The Collected Writings of Bayard Rustin
Edited by Devon W. Carbado and Donald Weise
Winner of the 2004 Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Studies
In his own voice, the history of the civil right movement told by the black gay adviser to Martin Luther King, Jr. and the organizer of the 1963 March on Washington.
Bayard Rustin, the famed openly-gay African American organizer, taught Martin Luther King, Jr. strategies of nonviolence during the Montgomery Bus Boycott, thereby launching the birth of the Civil Rights Movement. Widely acclaimed as a founding father of modern black protest, Rustin reached his pinnacle of notoriety in 1963 as organizer of the March on Washington.
Long before the March on Washington and King's ascendance to international prominence, Rustin put his life on the line to challenge racial segregation. His open homosexuality, however, remained a point of contention among black church leaders, with controversy sometimes embroiling even King himself.
Time on Two Crosses showcases the extraordinary career of this black gay civil rights pioneer. Spanning five decades, the book combines classic texts ranging in topic from Gandhi's impact on African Americans, white supremacists in Congress, the antiwar movement, and the assassination of Malcolm X, with never-before published selections on the call for gay rights, Louis Farrakhan, affirmative action, AIDS, and women’s rights.
"Rustin's words reach out to anyone who has bemoaned the gay rights movement's insulation from broader efforts for social justice. His insistence on the unity of these causes is bracing and inspiring....Only an activist who devoted a lifetime to a vision of broad-based, spiritually informed equality could write with such moral force." —The Advocate
"A profound portrait of this neglected yet essential American patriot." —New York Newsday
"There has never been a better time to read what Bayard Rustin has to say. He devoted his life to the causes of racial justice, a world without violence, and economic democracy, and his words are filled with thought-provoking wisdom." —John D’Emilio, author of Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin
"This is a diverse and invaluable collection of writing from one of the 20th century's most important human rights champions. Perhaps it will help raise the level of awareness of and appreciation for Rustin's life and work for a new generation of activists." —The Gay & Lesbian Review
"Time on Two Crosses is a magnificent contribution to public understanding of a major but neglected figure of the civil rights movement…A must read for those interested in learning about the civil rights revolution." —Randall Kennedy, author of Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word
DEVON CARBADO is Professor of Law and African American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the co-editor of Black Like Us: A Century of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual African American Fiction, winner of the 2003 Lambda Literary Award for Fiction Anthology and the Independent Publisher Award. He is editor of Black Men on Race, Gender, and Sexuality: A Critical Reader. He lives in Los Angeles.
DONALD WEISE is co-editor of Black Like Us, as well as The Huey P. Newton Reader with Black Panther Party founding member David Hilliard. He lives in New York City.
