There was no more trenchant and substantive critic of the Left from the Left in the 1960s and 1970s than Bayard Rustin. Some liberals and leftists today valorize Rustin on the basis of his multiple oppressed identities and civil rights organizing. On the other hand, many others dismiss him for being compromised by his commitment to the Democratic Party or by his deep suspicion of the new forms of left activism that appeared in the mid-1960s.

While Rustin certainly made some strategic mis-steps later in life, his challenges to the New Left, Black Power, and a regressing liberal establishment from 1964 until his passing in 1987 were insightful, cutting, and often quite prescient. At a time when the Left is in dire need of self-reflection and reorientation, Rustin’s work has gained a new relevance and urgency.

This new collection of Rustin’s writings from this period features articles and speeches that represent Rustin’s Challenge to the Left of his day. Some of the pieces of Rustin’s writing chosen for inclusion have been published before, but only in pamphlets or newspapers from many decades ago. Some will be published for the first time here. Damage Magazine is excited to bring Rustin’s views forth for a new generation, in the hopes that they will spark a wide-ranging reconsideration of left politics.

Paul Prescod is a labor organizer and a Jacobin Magazine contributing editor. Formerly he was a Philadelphia public school teacher and organizer with Teamsters for a Democratic Union. 

Dustin Guastella is director of operations for Teamsters Local 623 in Philadelphia and a research associate at the Center for Working-Class Politics.

CLICK TO RSVP.