A biographical tour de force! As a black homosexual Quaker, Bayard Rustin was a conscientious objector in WWII and was arrested for his homosexuality in the fifties. As one of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s closest advisors he organized the great March on Washington in 1963 and was a fierce advocate for freedom and justice until his death in 1987. Often referred to as America's Gandhi, Rustin dedicated his life to nonviolence in the face of tremendous prejudices. Historian John D'Emilio draws on archival materials as well as interviews with Rusti's colleagues.