February 5, 2014

Black History Month Celebrations: Show Host Richard Fowler Empowers Youth to Make a Difference

To continue our celebration of Black History Month, we are sharing another story of someone who has made a great impact on civil rights and economic equality. That person is Richard Fowler.

After years of going into the voting booth with his mother as a young child, Fowler learned the importance of being an active voice in one’s community. Working with the NAACP, he has helped over 1000 young voters in his native Florida to get registered and organize. He has also worked as a campaign manager for political candidates, to work on issues that uplift women, youth of color, and LGBTQ and low-income communities.

Working with youth in order to empower them to make a difference in their own and their communities’ lives is clearly important to Fowler, who has trained about 2,000 young people on how to make their voices heard through messaging and media. Fowler’s trainings no doubt draw on his experiences as the host of his own radio show (The Richard Fowler Show), which has recently partnered with the popular show The Young Turks. Additionally, Fowler serves as the interim director of Generational Alliance, which is made up of over 20 youth organizations dedicated to increasing collaboration and coordination within the youth movement through the following methods:

1. Create cultural spaces for young progressive leaders
2. Sit in progressive spaces that have historically left out underrepresented communities
3. Provide trainings for staff of members’ organizations to fill the leadership development gap
4. Help organizations collaborate on advocacy issues they align with
5. Uplift and promote their communications efforts through media training, booking and digital organizing

Fowler’s work at the Alliance and at his own show also includes educating folks on important issues, like the Affordable Care Act, via YouTube videos.

Fowler is carrying the torch of the leaders of the civil rights movement who came before him, using new media and technology to inspire young people to make a difference in new ways. To learn more, you can follow him on Twitter @RichardAFowler.

February 3, 2014

This Black History Month, We Honor Bayard Rustin

photo credit: jrcla.org

February once again marks the beginning of Black History Month–a time to remember and celebrate the rich history of African Americans and the achievements of the Civil Rights Movement.

One of the greatest moments of the Civil Rights era was the March on Washington in 1963–one of the largest non-violent protests to ever occur in America. The March on Washington brought thousands of people of all races together, in the name of equal rights for everyone–whether they were black or white, rich or poor, Muslim or Christian. Dr. Marin Luther King, Jr. made one of his most inspiring and famous speeches at the march, which culminated on the National mall.

But history has often overlooked the man who was the driving force behind this monumental event–a man named Bayard Rustin. Rustin was the one who organized the march, bringing methods used by Gandhi as well as the Quaker religion to Washington to ensure peace, but also impact. It was Rustin who helped shape Dr. King into the iconic symbol of peace he is remembered as.

As a young adult, Rustin worked with many kinds of people who influenced his activism, including ministers and labor organizers. During World War II, Rustin fought against racial discrimination in war-related hiring, and was later jailed for two years after refusing to enter the draft. Then, after protesting segregated transit systems, he was sentenced to work on a chain gang for several weeks.

Despite being punished for his beliefs, Rustin continued to work towards changing things for the better. In 1953, Bayard Rustin arrived in Montgomery, Alabama to partake in the famous bus boycott that kicked off after Rosa Parks was arrested after refusing to give up her seat on the bus for a white man. The boycott brought many civil rights leaders to the area, including a young Dr. Martin Luther King, who had not yet embraced non-violence. But Rustin taught many who were partaking in the boycott how Gandhi had used peaceful tactics to bring change in India, and people saw the importance of these tactics, and began to embrace them, focusing on direct protest.

Rustin was also a champion of workers rights. In 1965, Rustin and his mentor A. Philip Randolph co-founded the A. Philip Randolph Institute, a labor organization for African-American trade union members.

Although Bayard Rustin was a tireless activist, his life achievements are unknown to many, and he has even been called the “lost prophet” of the civil rights movement. This is largely because not only was Rustin silenced and threatened like many others were for being a black man speaking out for equal rights, but also because he was openly gay in a time when homophobia and bigotry was rampant. Rustin continued his life as an openly gay man, even after being incarcerated for it, and is seen as a champion of the LGBT movement still today. Despite being beaten, arrested, jailed, and fired from various leadership positions, Rustin overcame and made a huge impact on the civil and economic rights movements.

America has a long way to go before Rustin’s dreams of equal human rights for all are achieved, but without him, we perhaps would not be where we are today. Today, we have a black president, more women in leadership positions, and more of legislation in the states overturning old and outdated laws barring gay couples from marrying. These are just a few examples of the progress our country has made since Rustin’s time, and working people will continue to work so that ALL people have equal rights–at work and at home.