Bayard Rustin and the March on Washington
6/2/202623 min
When people remember the March on Washington they often recall the giant crowds or Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech.” Less known is the person who made the event possible. Today on the show, the story of Bayard Rustin, the man behind the March on Washington.
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
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Rund Abdelfatah· Host0:15
[instrumental music] This is America in Pursuit, a limited run series from NPR and Throughline. I'm Rund Abdelfatah. Each week we bring you stories about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the US that began 250 years ago.
Speaker 30:31
Freedom Now movement, hear me. We are requesting all citizens to move into Washington, to go by plane, by car, bus.
Walter Naegle· Guest0:41
250,000 people, Black and white, marched on the nation's capital.
Joyce Ladner· Guest0:46
It nationalized the s- Southern freedom struggle.
Rachelle Horowitz· Guest0:50
It was really, um, glorious.
Rund Abdelfatah· Host0:53
August 28th, 1963, the March on Washington, lives in many of our minds as a single moment, a single voice, a single dream.
Martin Luther King Jr.· Soundbite1:05
I have a dream [clapping] that one day my four little children- But what you probably don't know is there's a man standing behind Martin Luther King Jr.
Rund Abdelfatah· Host1:16
as he's making this speech, just a few feet to his right. He's tall, thin, wearing thick black-framed glasses, and this moment would never have happened without him. His name, Bayard