-1

out in the mountains

Prophet of Peace

Historian John D’Emi|io highli

civil rights activist Bayard Rustin

 

BY ROBERT WILLIAM
WOLFF

ohn D‘Emilio. PhD.. offered a lec-

ture in late October at the

University of Vermont on the
imponance of Bayard Rustin as a gay
man and a black civil rights activist
committed to nonviolence. D‘Emilio
specializes in the history of sexuality
and of social movements. A Guggen-
heim and National Endowment for the
Humanities fellow. he also served from
1995 to I997 as the founding director
of the Policy Institute at the National
Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

At UVM. the University of

Illinois professor of history and of gen-
der and women's studies used his
awmid-winning book. Lost Prophet: the
life and Times of Bayard Rustin
(2003). to present Rustin's contribu-
tions and to reflect on some points
about achieving hurrian rights. His lec-
ture demonstrated how history helps to
communicate ways people can influ-

ence the future.

I met Dr. D‘Emilio on cam-
pus before his lecture and asked for
suggestions to make sure the story of
modern gay liberation is not lost here in
Vemiont. “Americans are not big on
history." D‘Emilio observed. adding
that there is little historic memory.
despite interest in some of America's
big names — Washington. Jefferson.
Lincoln. "If there were not a day cele-
brating Martin Luther King's birth. he
would be largely forgotten.” D‘Emilio
declared.

Universities have to be
pushed to include teaching of popular
struggles. including those of the lgbtq
community. he insisted. lt essential for
people who want to pass our legacy to
young peopleto take advantage of
informal opponunities as well: “Educa-
tion must occur outside educational
institutions. Statewide organizations
need to ask what they can do about
teaching lgbtq history. Bars need to ask
what they can display on their walls." I
thought immediately that we may want
to start celebrating a queer history day

ghts the role of gay peace and

here in Vermont.

Before starting Lori Pruplirl.
D‘Emilio did not intend to write a biog-
raphy: “l hate biography!" He wanted
to write about the l960s. As he studied
the decade's social history. he found
that Rustin. born in I912. a Quaker. a
pacifist. an African-American gay man.
played a pivotal role in the social and
political happenings of that decade. The
book that resulted is a detailed telling
of Bayard Rustin's political life. with
threads of the leader's private life that
impinge on his political life woven in.

Bayard Rustin was a civil
rights strategist. radical pacifist. and
international human rights activist. who
planted Gandhian nonviolcncc on
American soil. and was a teacher and
mentor to Martin Luther King. Jr.
Rustin successfully planned and execut-
ed some of the most imaginative and
influential citizen protests in the l96(ls.
According to D‘Emilio. "By the time
the l960s began. Bayard Rustin had
learned that war would never bring
peace. and that democracy is only
secure when wealth is spread around."

D‘Emilio described the
l960s as a decade that started in an
atmosphere of hope for the future. By

its midpoint. it had turned into it time of

repeated assassinations. the quagmire
of Vietnam. and profound loss of hope.
Bayard Rustin hcld fast to hope and
devoted his significant leadership and
tactical skills to peace and nonviolcncc
resistance organizations.

Anything one might want to
learn about making a better world can
be Icamed from studying Bayard
Rustin‘: lifc. D‘Emilio announced.
Rustin's strategic and tactical efforts on
behalf of peace and nonviolent civil
rights actions were perhaps the most
effective ever. And he did it as an
African-American man who had been
arrested for what were. at that time.
sexual crimes: cruising for sex with
men.

Rustin's sexual Pl'Ul'l1lSCUll_\
was well known: he did not hide it or
feel ashamed of his homo.scxuali'l_v, His
colleagues’ reactions to the resulting
potential for public relations problems.
however. kept him in the background of
activities in which he played key roles.
During and after a relationship with
Davis Plan. a young white man who
changed his choice of college to be
near Rustin's officc. Rustin had a string
of embarrassing arrests on 'mor.ils'
charges in the late 1940s and early
l950s. Because of his continued

    

scrapes with the law over his sexual
activities. Rustin never had a secure
home in the civil rights movement even
though he organized the I963 march on
Washington and guided Dr. King's
political activities for several years as

he gmc voice to thc non-violent actions

for peace. freedom and civil rights that
were grasping the attention of
Americans.

Rustin remained an activist
for peace for his entire life. visiting
countries from Africa to .‘\\l£! and South
America when: he could encourage
nonviolent resistance to oppression and
colonialism. He died in I987 nftcr
rctuming from Haiti.

l)'l-‘.milio‘s lcclurc con-
vinccd me not only of the convictions
and abilities of Rustin. but that the his-
tonun secs Rustin's life worthy of emu-
lation. When the master realit_v-stnry-
tcllcr departed Burlington l felt an
unanticipated loss. Not only is he a
wonderful fellow with whom to discuss
\l.ll‘ljC(.'|S critical to our community. but I
want logo to Chicago next semester
when: I could take his classes. 7

For nmrr nfurmmimt rm Bayurrl Rustin.
trr l,oI-I Prophet: The Life and Titties
of liuyzitd Rustin /7) John I)'I£Inrlio
fl/Illl‘(’I'.llIV\ u] Chirrlgo ,’f(',|.!I.

Robert William Wolf] ll|’t'.l and writes in
Rumlolpli .

Ten Bad Attitudes

Scott Shemtan finds the trouble with ’fI.ldeS: faulty fllmmaklng.

don't know why. but I dreaded

watching I0 Attitudes, a new come-

dy thatpro motesitselfwith the
tagline “Finally — a gay Swingers.”

, Wm anyone really waiting
for a gay Swingers? Have any gay peo-
ple even seen that 1996 movie about
wannabe actors who hang out in'LA? If
the best you can do is proclaim your
movie the “gay Swingers" what’s next?
The all-female Midnight Express? The
French True Grit? The white The W12?

Hoping to get some back-
ground on I 0 Attitudes, l surfed over to
the lntemational Movie Database at
lMDBcom. There, I saw the movie got
a shockingly low user rating of l.7.
Granted. only six people voted. but 1.7
is still pretty low. To put that number in
perspective. the stinker Ishtar has a user
rating of 3.7, the leaden Valley of the
Dolls gets a 5.4, and Pia Zadora starrer
The lonely Lady rates a 2.4.

Just in case you think /0
Attitudes’ low rating might be due to

homophobia. two other gay comedies,
Trick and The Broken Hearts C lub. get
a 6.9 and a 6.7. respectively.

' But the good thing about low
expectations is that they can only go up.
Hoping for the best. I invited my neigh-
bors Gary and Real over to watch 10
Attitudes with me. If I turned out to be
pleasantly surprised, I'd be happy to
share a good time with them. If the
movie turned out to be bad, well. mis-
ery loves company.

As the DVD started, the full
face of comedian Bruce Villanch
appeared in what I first assumed was a
public service announcement. Nobody
quite heard what he had to say. and then
the title music started playing.

“Was that part of the
movie?" Gary asked.

“Who knows," I responded.

Bruce was followed by a
completely bizarre montage of unrelat-
ed shots. A muscle-bound stud emerges
from a pool. A car drives down a street.

 

Three men enter a sauna. A palm tree.
All poorly lit and accompanied by bad
music.

“This looks like an infomer-
cial." Gary observed. I thought of bad
'70s porn. myself.

The movie goes on (and on.
and on — never have 88 minutes felt
more like 800) to tell the story of Josh,
a thirty-something caterer whose life
falls apart when he finds his lover
cheating on him. Josh vows to move
back home to  whcrcver, l can‘! cvcn
remember  but his best friend chal-
lenges him to go on l0 dates before
giving up on LA.

- Technically, the movie is a
horrifying mess. Bad camera angles.

bad music. bad lighting and had set
design give new meaning to the word
"amateurish." The film was obviously
done on the cheap. and not cndcaringly
so. Sccncs shot at night are difficult to
see. dialogue is hard to hear. and the
handhcld cumcrawork is at times nause-
ating to watch.

The editing is sometimes jar-
ringly staccato — not so much for anis-
tic reasons. one suspects. but hccaiusc
the filmmakers didn’t shoot enough
coverage of several sccncs. Othcr edit-
ing snafus include the bizarre disap-
pearance and rczippcanincc of the lead
churactcr’s goatcc over the course of
the film. and frequent cutawiiys to chur-
actcrs whose facial expressions uppcur
inappropriate for the scene in which
they're appearing.

All that aside. there are
entertaining moments in the film. Somc
are due to the cast. which includes it
very funny Judy Tcnutai. David liaiustino
(from Married with Children). and
openly gay comic Jim Bullock. Otlicr
funnincss is contributed by the film's
star. openly gay comic Jason Stuart.
Stuart is OK. but he has neither the
looks nor the charisma to carry it lilm.
At one point. he appears shirtless. and
you have to wonder what he was
thinking.

Stuart also co-produced and
co-wrotc thc l'.!- I) um could say he
has only himsclt to M... .. no the mess
in which he finds himself. ”I\ pcncliunt
for casting vcry good-looking tticn as
his dtttcs might have inflated his ego.
but it didn't do tnuch for the film's
hclicvahility.

Stuart is an hcticr writer than
he is tin actor. I loved Josh‘s reply when
his boyfriend insisted that the adulter-
ous scx he wtis cuughl having was just
something that was "hrippciiing."

"This isn't it 'happcning'."
Josh screams. "A ‘happening’ is some-
thing llllll happens with Barbra
Streisand in Central Park!"

At one point. Josh is propo-
sitioncd by it miilc prostitulc. whom he
politely informs “I'm sorry. I just broke
up with my hoyfricnd. I don't know if
I'm at the point where l have to pay
yct."

ls l()Ar!irm/ox worth sccing? '

Probably not. But it docs show tlttil
cvcn when buried in mild. ltilcnl will
sometimes shine through. ln this ctisc.
though. you have to look really hard. 7

Scot! Sht'rm(In Il’l(‘(‘(IIllIlllll(‘.\‘ Io
Wmliinglmi. l)Cfmm the Richmmul.
Vermont /IUIIIL‘ /ll‘ .\‘ll(lI‘('.l‘ with /ll.l‘ parl-
ncr and .l'()Il.