Saving Our History

with “Brother Outsider”

Co-director Bennett Singer will lead a seminar on the importance of finding, saving, and incorporating archival material into film and film archives, using the making of the film he co-directed with Nancy Kates, “Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin” as a real-world example of saving African American LGBT history. The seminar will appropriately be taking place on Pride of the Ocean’s, “Selma, Seneca Falls and Stonewall: Films That Made a Difference” cruise June 1-8, 2014 from New York to Bermuda, “Brother Outsider” being a film that made and continues to make a difference.

Long before Martin Luther King, Jr. became a national figure, Bayard Rustin routinely put his body and his life on the line as a crusader for racial justice.  He was openly gay during the fiercely homophobic era of the 40s and 50s; as a result, he was frequently shunned by the very civil rights movement he helped create.

Though he had to overcome the stereotypes associated with being an illegitimate son, an African American, a gay man and a one-time member of the Communist Party, Rustin the ultimate outsider eventually became a public figure and respected political insider. He not only shaped civil rights movement strategy as a longtime advisor to Martin Luther King, Jr., but was known and respected by numerous U.S. Presidents and foreign leaders.

Your joining this cruise helps support filmmakers maintain their work by creating works that save LGBT history, including the precious archival materials that make up our  LGBT African American experience. Click here to book your cabin on Pride of the Ocean.