synopsis

Five years in the making and the winner of more than 25 awards and honors, BROTHER OUTSIDER illuminates the life and work of Bayard Rustin, a visionary activist and strategist who has been called “the unknown hero” of the civil rights movement. A tireless crusader for social and economic justice, a disciple of Gandhi, a mentor to Martin Luther King Jr., and chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, Rustin dared to live as an openly gay man during the fiercely homophobic 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. BROTHER OUTSIDER reveals the price that Rustin paid for this openness, chronicling both the triumphs and setbacks of his remarkable 60-year career. In 2013, Rustin received a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom — America’s highest civilian honor — from Barack Obama, who described Rustin as “an unyielding activist for civil rights, dignity, and equality for all [who] fought tirelessly for marginalized communities at home and abroad. As an openly gay African American, Mr. Rustin stood at the intersection of several of the fights for equal rights.”