More than a decade before the Greensboro sit-ins helped ignite the modern civil rights movement, Bayard Rustin, a key strategist of nonviolent protest and later the chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, staged a quiet but powerful act of resistance in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
In January 1947, Rustin, a Black and openly gay civil rights organizer, was denied a room at the Hamline Hotel in Saint Paul because of his race. Instead of leaving, Rustin sat down in the hotel lobby and refused to move. This action became known as a “sit-down-and-wait” protest.
As a result, the protest drew support from Rev. Clarence Nelson, president of the St. Paul NAACP, along with other community members who joined Rustin overnight.
The protest ended the following morning when hotel management assigned Rustin a room. The St. Paul Recorder, Minnesota’s historic Black newspaper, now published as the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, reported the incident under the headline: “New sit-down and wait technique wins; Hotel gives Rustin room.”
From Saint Paul to the March on Washington
Rustin’s early Minnesota civil rights protest foreshadowed the nonviolent strategies he would later teach to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In 1963, Rustin served as the principal organizer of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where King delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech.
However, despite his leadership, Rustin often remained in the background due to both racism and homophobia. Today, his legacy as a Black gay civil rights leader is receiving renewed attention through the 2023 biographical film “Rustin,” starring Colman Domingo.
Film Screening Honors Bayard Rustin’s Minnesota Legacy
To honor Bayard Rustin’s Minnesota connection and his contributions to civil rights history, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Minnetonka will host a public screening of “Rustin” on January 10. The event will include a live Zoom Q&A with Walter Naegle, Rustin’s partner from 1977 until his death in 1987.
Naegle has played a key role in preserving Rustin’s legacy. In 2013, he accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Rustin’s behalf from President Barack Obama, becoming one of the first same-sex partners to do so. Naegle is also co-author of “Troublemaker for Justice: The Story of Bayard Rustin,” a biography for young readers.
Film Screening Details
What: “Rustin” film screening and discussion
When: January 10; doors open at 5:30 p.m., film at 6 p.m.
Where: Unitarian Universalist Church of Minnetonka,
2030 Wayzata Blvd. E., Wayzata, Minnesota
Contact:
Event organizer Joel Klaverkamp, joelklaverkamp@gmail.com