After Nov. 5th, “Rustin” Was My Antidote
As an American living abroad, I’m both distanced from and yet held hostage by events in the country of my birth. I have many friends and family still back in the US, and I often have to gently share a wider perspective with them than what’s fed to them by their own pitiful TV news. I vote by mail. I donate to protests, wildlife foundations, and sometimes even a politician (#rideordieforaoc). I’ve gotten the hell out of that shitshow, and yet in some ways I’m more involved than ever.
So it was crushing this November 5th to see all the support roll in for a man and an agenda which I feel isn’t even a valid political viewpoint. The majority of the US has fallen yet again for one big con, buying into the idea that simply flip-flopping on the current leadership is going to led to a better economic outcome for them, if not a more idealistic country. Worse yet, the country elected an actually convicted felon (as opposed to simply the known-but-unprosecuted war crimes and moral outrages of past presidents like Bush Jr.) to the presidency for the first time. An agenda based on racism, sexism, hate, and disrespect for your neighbor was in no part a dealbreaker for the majority of voters. This, more than anything, is what really sticks with me.
How do you get out of a spiral of shame and disappointment like that? In my birth country, my “fellow” Americans had turned a question of ethics into simply cheering for your sports team. The staggering ignorance and moral bankruptcy was stunning. I turned to the film “Rustin”, a movie focused on the lead-up to The March On Washington, where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I have a dream…” speech. This was also a time of great adversity, from Edgar Hoover and the FBI, from the US Military itself, the CIA, and entrenched conservative elements in the American populace. The KKK/Fraternal Order of Police, and even African-Americans within the NAACP and the BPP. It was a time of many divisions, and yet people like Bayard Rustin fought for great unification behind common, basic values that all good people can agree on.
Respect for your fellow human beings.
Judging individuals, not stereotypes.
Equal treatment under the law.
And historically, we know this was a fight that Americans won. This was the story I needed today. A story of overcoming adversity to do the right thing.
I had put off watching the movie for long time because it seemed like the kind of predictable Oscar-bait that was preaching to the converted. Despite hearing raves for Colman Domingo’s lead performance, I thought “eh, maybe I’ll get around to it sometime.” Well, this was that time, and boy did it go down smooth.
Maybe I was just in the headspace for something a bit more comforting, so I can’t say that my early impressions were off base, but I’ll say that it didn’t bother me once while watching. I never felt pandered to or like the film was made to get gold statues. This is a long-overdue corrective to the fantastic work of Bayard Rustin as a civil rights leader, a reputation which was long held at arms-length due to his existence as an openly-gay black man. The leaders of the time felt that it was a vulnerability they couldn’t afford, to say nothing of the personal opinions some of them may have had.
Domingo is indeed a showstopper as Rustin, and -apologies to Cillian Murphy- he probably should’ve won Best Actor. And he’s surrounded by a bevy of fantastic supporting performances, not least Aml Ameen as MLK. He’s not doing an imitation but really nails everything you need him to be. And the film isn’t just strong on performance, or based on smart, inspiring dialogue, it’s just a really well-made total package. The jazzy score by Branford Marsalis is a bit unexpected, but perfectly captures the hardship and the glory. It’s well-shot and snappily-paced by director George C. Wolfe, who I think exceeds himself from his previous film, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
If there’s a weak link in the film, it’s probably Chris Rock, who somehow gets second-billing, I guess on name recognition. He’s not actually on screen all that much, and when he is, he’s good. But he’s just still pretty, well, Chris Rock-ish. It’s a bit distracting in a film of actors who otherwise just seem like dynamic people. And the film does do a great job of showing us many of these key people. Referencing Medgar Evers and Dr. Anna Hedgeman and Mahalia Jackson, important figures in the movement. It’s a movie which is both very focused on Rustin’s personal journey but also gives a good picture of the overall Civil Rights Movement and many of the key players and events. I love that the film doesn’t sacrifice that big picture in its specificity.
And of course, Rustin’s homosexuality is the big addition to that specificity. It’s perhaps the final taboo topic in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. In Feminist conversations, we nowadays have talked a lot about how -when push came to shove- many White women sacrificed the rights of African-American women in order to get their own first. And in this film and many recent films (Judas and the Black Messiah comes to mind), the key and growing role of women in fighting for equal rights for African Americans has been brought up more. But a gay Black man is maybe the last trigger, and so for someone like Rustin to finally get his due acknowledgment is a refreshing and welcome addition to these kind of films.
Mostly, I found the ending of the movie to be very moving. No spoilers, but the film has built up a history of Rustin being sidelined. He was a man who fought as harder or harder than anyone for equality for all, and yet he was often asked to take a backseat, to accept his own inequality in order for others to progress. When he finally stands up and says “They either believe in equal rights for all…or they don’t,” it puts the finger on the perpetual problem of sacrificing your principles in order to win a moral battle. Multiple scenes around and after this struck a real chord with me, and I have no skin in this game. I’m a straight, white man, but this is just moving stuff.
Going forward, I think this film helped me find the mentality I need. The US is in a dark spot now, with less equality and less value for its citizens than perhaps at any time since the Equal Rights Act. And it’s likely to get far, far worse over the next few years. But this is far from the first time that Americans have needed to rally together and watch out for each other, to unify against adversity and insist on what’s right. As more and more protections are stripped away from the most vulnerable Americans, as we’re taken further backwards into what the view of a “real” American is, it’s important to not sacrifice our own principles in that fight. And to not give up hope.
I have to be grateful for the film for giving me a little glimmer of inspiration, for reminding me that mass systemic change is possible, and that people are capable of great grace, and great heroism. I needed that today, and I hope a few people watch it and get that same feeling, too.
