Editing Bayard Rustin (section)

==Early life and education==
Rustin was born in 1912 in [[West Chester, Pennsylvania]], to Florence Rustin and Archie Hopkins, who were unmarried. As Florence was a single mother, Rustin was raised by his maternal grandparents, Julia (Davis) and Janifer Rustin, wealthy local caterers, as the ninth of their twelve children; growing up he believed his biological mother was his older sister.<ref name="Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History: Rustin">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Bayard Rustin <!--

     The title is a guess! If someone has access to this work, please verify the title!

-->|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History |last=Carol |first=George |publisher=Gale |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-02-865816-2 |location=Detroit |pages=1993–1994}}</ref><ref name="biography.com bio">{{Cite web |date=2023-11-17 |title=Bayard Rustin: The Civil Rights Activist Portrayed in ‘Rustin’ |url=https://www.biography.com/activists/bayard-rustin |access-date=2025-05-29 |website=Biography |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mainlinetoday.com/core/pagetools.php?pageid=10587&url=/Main-Line-Today/October-2013/Bayard-Rustins-Civil-Rights-Legacy-Began-with-Grandmother-Julia-Rustin/&mode=print |title=Bayard Rustin's Civil Rights Legacy Began with Grandmother Julia Rustin |first=Mark E. |last=Dixon |date=October 2013 |work=Main Line Today |access-date=June 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181022232810/http://www.mainlinetoday.com/core/pagetools.php?pageid=10587&url=%2FMain-Line-Today%2FOctober-2013%2FBayard-Rustins-Civil-Rights-Legacy-Began-with-Grandmother-Julia-Rustin%2F&mode=print |archive-date=October 22, 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Julia Rustin was a [[Religious Society of Friends|Quaker]], although she attended her husband's [[African Methodist Episcopal Church]]. She was also a member of the [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]] (NAACP). NAACP leaders such as [[W. E. B. Du Bois]] and [[James Weldon Johnson]] were frequent guests in the Rustin home. With these influences in his early life, in his youth Rustin campaigned against racially discriminatory [[Jim Crow laws]].<ref name="spartacus">{{cite web|url=http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USArustin.htm |title=Bayard Rustin Biography |publisher=Spartacus Educational |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419214532/http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USArustin.htm |archive-date=April 19, 2014}}</ref>

One of the first documented realizations Rustin had of his sexuality was when he mentioned to his grandmother that he preferred to spend time with males rather than females. She responded, "I suppose that's what you need to do".<ref name="Gates-Rivers">{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/100-amazing-facts/who-designed-the-march-on-washington/|title=Bayard Rustin, the Gay Civil Rights Leader Who Organized the March on Washington {{!}} African American History Blog|last=Gates|first=Henry Louis Jr.|author-link=Henry Louis Gates Jr.|date=January 20, 2013|website=The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross|publisher=[[PBS]]|access-date=May 26, 2019}}</ref>

In 1932, Rustin entered [[Wilberforce University|Wilberforce College]], a [[historically black college]] in Ohio operated by the AME Church.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Watson|first=Warren|title=LibGuides: History of Wilberforce University: Bayard Rustin|url=https://wilberforcepayne.libguides.com/c.php?g=763792&p=5478045|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030133036/https://wilberforcepayne.libguides.com/c.php?g=763792&p=5478045|archive-date=October 30, 2020|access-date=January 1, 2021|website=wilberforcepayne.libguides.com|language=en}}</ref> Rustin was active in a number of campus organizations, including the [[Omega Psi Phi]] fraternity.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Notable Omegas – Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.|url=https://oppf.org/about-omega/notable-omegas/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200420034952/https://oppf.org/about-omega/notable-omegas/|archive-date=April 20, 2020|access-date=January 1, 2021|language=en-US}}</ref> He was expelled from Wilberforce in 1936 after organizing a strike,<ref>{{cite news|last=Mann|first=Leslie|date=February 1, 2012|title=Not-so-secret life of gay civil rights leader Bayard Rustin|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2012/02/01/not-so-secret-life-of-gay-civil-rights-leader-bayard-rustin/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160220014048/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-02-01/entertainment/ct-ent-0202-museums-bayard-rustin-20120202_1_walter-naegle-bayard-rustin-brother-outsider|archive-date=February 20, 2016}}</ref> and later attended Cheyney State Teachers College (now [[Cheyney University of Pennsylvania]]). Cheyney honored Rustin with a posthumous [[Doctor of Humane Letters]] degree at its 2013 commencement.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Johnstone |first=Malcolm |date=May 30, 2024 |title=Brandywine Stories: Bayard Rustin, A Renaissance Man |url=https://countylinesmagazine.com/article/brandywine-stories-bayard-rustin-a-renaissance-man/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240619175339/https://countylinesmagazine.com/article/brandywine-stories-bayard-rustin-a-renaissance-man/ |archive-date=2024-06-19 |access-date=2024-10-03 |website=County Lines Magazine |language=en}}</ref>

After completing an activist training program conducted by the [[American Friends Service Committee]] (AFSC), Rustin moved to [[Harlem, Manhattan|Harlem]] in 1937 and began studying at [[City College of New York]]. There he became involved in efforts to defend and free the [[Scottsboro Boys]], nine young black men in Alabama accused of raping two white women. He was part of the [[Young Communist League, USA|Young Communist League]] from 1936 to 1941, leaving after  the [[Communist Party USA]] reversed its anti-war policy in response to [[Nazi Germany]]'s invasion of the [[USSR]]. This conflicted with Rustin's anti-war stance.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bayard Rustin {{!}} AFL-CIO |url=https://aflcio.org/about/history/labor-history-people/bayard-rustin |website=aflcio.org |access-date=September 3, 2023 |language=en}}</ref> Soon after arriving in New York City, he became a member of Fifteenth Street Meeting of the [[Quakers|Religious Society of Friends]] (Quakers).{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

Rustin was an accomplished tenor vocalist, an asset that earned him admission to both Wilberforce University and Cheyney State Teachers College with music scholarships.<ref>D'Emilio 2003, pp. 21, 24.</ref> In 1939, he was in the chorus of short-lived Broadway musical ''[[John Henry (musical)|John Henry]].'' Fellow cast member and blues singer [[Josh White]] later invited Rustin to join his gospel and vocal harmony group Josh White and the Carolinians, with whom he made several recordings. With this opportunity, Rustin became a regular performer at the [[Café Society]] nightclub in [[Greenwich Village]].<ref>D'Emilio 2003, pp. 31–32.</ref> A few albums on Fellowship Records featuring his singing, such as ''[[Bayard Rustin Sings a Program of Spirituals]]'', were produced from the 1950s through the 1970s.