Bayard Rustin remembered at ADL's STOP Conference

LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. (NEWS10) — A man kept in the background of the civil rights movement, was brought to the forefront for a group of students seeking to model their own activism after him.  Bayard Rustin was heavily involved in civil rights. First, from his refusal to give up his seat on a segregated bus a decade before Rosa Parks and then as the organizer of the March on Washington.

Sarah Wasserman a Community Organizer at The Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice says, even though he was kept in the background of the civil rights movement because he was openly gay, the impact of his activism remains.

“So there are many different examples of how he brought non-violence to the movement, about how he was inspired by Gandhi, how he really used his body as a form of protest and used his mind to help others coalesce around that idea," said the organizer.

Now she and other educators at the STOP (Students Together Opposing Prejudice) Conference, organized by the Anti-Defamation League and held at Siena College, hundreds of students from 15 area schools. It’s part of the ongoing 'No Place for Hate' Program.  A program important for event emcee Shanelle Henry who also wants to inspire students to be what they call Angelic Troublemakers: people breaking systemic rules to fight oppression in their community.

"It may sound like, and I know for me it may seem like a daunting task, I am but one person. But Bayard Rustin was one person, Martin Luther King was one person," Henry said.

For 15-year-old Joseph Smith activism, even without recognition, is just as meaningful.  

“You have to make sure that you...that's coming from your heart. 'Cause I can do whatever I want, but if it doesn't come from my heart, it's in vain," Smith said before a crowd of his peers.

And it's not just Joseph, other students say Rustin has inspired them to go out and effect change. 

“Now I feel like there is a whole ‘nother level of respect for someone who I didn't even know existed, but has contributed so much to activism and civil rights,” said 17-year-old Mari Zhou from Colonie Central High School.

“It helped me learn other people's viewpoints and talk to more people, and get me more involved in activism,” Ashon's schoolmate Olivia Snyder,16, said.

“It gave me more insight on what I can do to help better my community as well as you know share with other people what they can do too,” added Olivia Snyder, 16, of Guilderland High.

Wasserman says there's still more work to be done with bringing unsung heroes into the limelight. “There's so many communities and ways in which people are not recognized and I think it's gonna take a really big fight,” said Wasserman.