Reading and Discussion Questions
John D’Emilio, Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin
1. Why does D'Emilio identify Rustin as a “young radical”
even at the beginning of his adult life? What were the sources of his
radicalism? What forms did it take while he was still a student? What
were the qualities of Rustin’s personality as a young man?
2. Rustin moved to New York City in 1937, when he was a young adult,
and made that city his permanent home for the rest of his life. What impact
do you think this had on his life and outlook?
3. What was the Fellowship of Reconciliation and what role did it play
in Rustin’s life? Who was A. J. Muste? What was the Congress of
Racial Equality (CORE)? Who was A. Phillip Randolph?
4. What difference did it make that Rustin was deeply rooted in pacifism
and the peace movement? How did these commitments shape his ideas about
race and the civil rights movement?
5. Were you surprised to learn that Rustin was involved in organized
direct action against segregation long before Brown or the March
on Washington? What does this history add to your view of the civil rights
movement?
6. Rustin was entitled to status as a conscientious objector during World
War II, but he chose to spend 28 months in federal prison for violating
the Selective Service Act. How did that experience influence him?
7. What did Rustin learn from Ghandi and the movement for Indian Independence?
Why was Rustin’s trip to Africa in 1952 important?
8. D’Emilio calls the January 1953 arrest in Padadena on a “morals
charge” a “pivotal event in Rustin’s life” (p.
193). What was the arrest about? Why does D’Emilio believe it was
such a crucial turning point?
9. What is the War Resisters League?
10. How would you describe Rustin’s relationship to the main actors
and developments of the civil rights movement after the Montgomery bus
boycott in 1955? Martin Luther King, Jr.? The sit-in movement? The March
on Washington?
11. During the 1964 presidential campaign, Rustin publically endorsed
LBJ and in early 1965 he advocated a strategic shift in the civil rights
movement “from protest to politics”? What did Rustin mean
by this? Why was it so controversial? What do you think of it? Do you
think it represents a repudiation of his earlier philosophy, or an extension
of it?
12. What did Rustin think of black nationalism?
13. Why do you think this book is titled “Lost Prophet”?
14. Rustin was considered controversial by older, mainstream civil rights
organizations (such as the NAACP) and by young radicals during
the 1960s. Why?
15. D’Emilio argues that Rustin was unusually open and comfortable
about his homosexuality, but that it also explains his invisibility to
history. What was life like for gay men during Rustin’s young adulthood?
Can you offer examples of the price Rustin paid for being gay? Do you
agree with the author’s argument? Why or why not?
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