“When people of color get the opportunity to be leaders, we have a responsibility to fight with everything within us to bring others along. We cannot, once we get in the door, close the door behind us. We’ve got to make darn sure that the door is not just cracked but is opened wide for others to come in.”
Read MoreIn 1947, Rustin participated in the first Freedom Ride across the South, known as the “Journey of Reconciliation” to protest the segregation of interstate bus travel. In Chapel Hill, N.C., local authorities charged Rustin and three white protesters with violating the state's segregation laws. Convicted, they were sentenced to 30 days of hard labor on a chain gang. Rustin's description of his ordeal in the New York Post sparked prison reform in the state and led to abolition of the convict labor system there.
Read MoreWalking in the footsteps of Frederick Douglas, Lucy Parson and A. Philip Randolph, labor leaders today continue to call for broad and sustained attention to addressing racism and sexism where they continue to violate labor’s democratic ideals.
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