As we celebrate one of America’s greatest leaders, Martin Luther King, Jr, it is important to recognize the powerful leaders he surrounded himself with such as his wife, Coretta Scott King, Bayard Rustin (pictured with King above), and Hosea Williams.
Not only did Coretta Scott King raise their four children, but she also traveled around the globe to champion racial and economic justice, women’s and children’s rights, gay and lesbian rights, religious freedom, lifting up the poor and homeless, nuclear disarmament, the environment, and pro-democracy movements.
Bayard Rustin, out as a gay man in the 1950s, organized the Freedom Ride after the Supreme Court’s 1946 decision making it illegal to segregate interstate buses, During that ride, he was illegally arrested, imprisoned, and put on a Chain Gang for 22 days in North Carolina. Based on that experience he authored “Twenty-two Days on a Chain Gang,” a 5-part series published in the New York Post. As a result, North Carolina abolished chain gangs. Rustin traveled to India in 1948 just after Gandhi’s assassination and it was he who brought the Indian’s philosophy and methods of non-violence to King. Rustin was the primary organizer and strategist of the famous 1963 March on Washington.
Hosea Williams, affectionately referred to by King as a “bull in a china closet” organized and inspired masses of people into nonviolent direct action.
With much more to be said about each, it is clear that great leaders surround themselves with other great leaders.
Who are your champions?
Wishing the very best for Martin Luther King Day.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
