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Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin

Documentary Screening & Talkback

In recognition of World Pride 2025, the MLK Library is excited to host a documentary screening and talkback featuring the award-winning documentary Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin.

Praised as "electrifying" (MetroWeekly), "powerful and startling" (The Advocate), and "beautifully crafted" (Boston Globe), the award-winning documentary BROTHER OUTSIDER illuminates the life and work of Bayard Rustin — a mentor to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and chief organizer of the historic 1963 March on Washington who dared to live as an out gay man during a fiercely homophobic era. 

Join the film's co-director Bennett Singer, Bayard Rustin's life partner Walter Naegle, Rustin contemporary Rachelle Horowitz and other esteemed panelists in conversation with journalist Richard Fowler for a post-screening discussion of Rustin's life and legacy. 

To watch a trailer and learn more, visit brotheroutsider.org. 

This program is made possible by the DC Public Library Foundation.

The DC Public Library Foundation partners with the DC Public Library to enhance Washington, DC’s public libraries, bringing private philanthropy together with government support to ensure that our libraries deliver the highest quality of service to the District’s residents. With the help of many generous people, the Foundation provides educational programs for children and youth, workforce development training, cultural events, and collection enhancements for DC’s libraries.

About the Film:

Since its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and national broadcasts on PBS and Logo, BROTHER OUTSIDER has introduced millions of viewers around the world to the life and work of Bayard Rustin — a visionary strategist and activist who has been called “the unknown hero” of the civil rights movement. 

A disciple of Gandhi, a mentor to Martin Luther King Jr., and chief architect of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Rustin dared to live as an out gay man during the fiercely homophobic 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. BROTHER OUTSIDER chronicles Rustin's activism for racial and economic justice, peace, and equality for LGBTQ Americans while illuminating why he has been erased from history.

The recipient of more than 25 awards and honors, including the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary, BROTHER OUTSIDER has been shown at The United Nations, The Kennedy Center, and The British Museum, as well as by the NAACP, The Urban League, Human Rights Campaign, GLSEN, Amnesty International, and hundreds of schools, libraries, museums, labor gatherings, faith communities, and non-profit organizations working to promote racial justice and LGBTQ equality. The film was directed by Nancy Kates and Bennett Singer and executive produced by Sam Pollard; it is currently streaming on Kanopy and Netflix.

Richard Fowler is a Contributor to Fox News Media and an Adjunct Professor of Journalism at Georgetown University. Since 2016, he has provided political and cultural analysis across Fox’s daytime and primetime programming as well the network’s Sunday morning public affairs line-up. This includes Fox News Sunday with Shannon Bream and Media Buzz with Howard Kurtz. He also appears as a guest co-host on The Five (weekdays, 5-6 PM ET).

Fowler, former host of Fowler Show, a national syndicated radio program, is now known for his work as a contributing writer for Forbes and BET.com. That's where his long-form storytelling has shed light on millennials' issues and topics that live at the intersection of culture, policymaking and societal change. 

With more than a decade and a half of experience in media and journalism, Fowler’s work has made its way to millions of homes via  radio, print and television. Foundations, nonprofits, corporate brands, elected leaders and local governments have utilized Fowler’s storytelling experience to develop engagement strategies for their  increasingly diverse audiences. 

Fowler, a believer in empowering and equipping future generations, has served as a Senior Media Fellow for the New Leader’s Council and as the Chairman of the Center for Black Equity. In both roles, Richard channeled his experience as a storyteller to train and equip millennials with the skills  needed to advocate for their respective communities. 

Fowler holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from Georgetown University,  and a Bachelor of Science in Economics and a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs from George Washington University.

   
Walter Naegle was Bayard Rustin’s life partner from 1977 until Rustin’s death in 1987. In 2013, he accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom that President Barack Obama awarded posthumously to Rustin at a White House ceremony. Naegle serves as Executive Director of The Bayard Rustin Fund, a nonprofit organization that promotes Rustin’s vision of a peaceful and equitable world. A skilled photographer, he joined Rustin on numerous international missions to assess conditions for refugees and prospects for democracy in countries experiencing social change, including El Salvador, Haiti, and South Africa. He co-authored Troublemaker for Justice: The Story of Bayard Rustin, an acclaimed biography for young readers, and was a historical consultant for the 2023 Netflix biopic Rustin, starring Colman Domingo. Naegle was also actively involved in curating “Speaking Truth to Power: The Life of Bayard Rustin,” a major exhibition on view through 2025 at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis.

Bennett Singer has been making documentaries about social justice for more than 25 years. In addition to co-directing Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin — which premiered at Sundance, aired nationally on PBS, and is streaming on Kanopy and Netflix — Singer’s credits include Eyes on the Prize II, an Emmy- and Peabody-winning series on the history of the civil rights movement; Electoral Dysfunction, a documentary about voting in America that “lives up to its title” (The New York Times); and Cured, a “fascinating” (Hollywood Reporter) and “deeply moving” (Queer Review) film about the activists who brought about a crucial victory in the movement for LGBTQ equality and dignity: the American Psychiatric Association’s 1973 decision to remove the diagnosis of homosexuality from its manual of mental disorders. The former Executive Editor of TIME Magazine’s education program, Singer is the author or editor of five books, including, most recently, LGBTQ Stats, an almanac of facts and figures on the LGBTQ revolution that he co-authored with his husband, David Deschamps. www.bennettsinger.com

Rachelle Horowitz began working in the civil rights movement in the late 1950s, when, as a 17-year-old student at Brooklyn College, she volunteered with In Friendship, a grassroots organization led by Bayard Rustin and Ella Baker. She went on to serve as an aide to Rustin for 17 years. Horowitz helped organize the 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage and two Youth Marches for Integrated Schools and was arrested in multiple nonviolent sit-ins. Along with Norman Hill and Tom Kahn, she worked closely with Rustin to plan the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, serving as its transportation director. She later joined the Council of Federated Organizations in Mississippi, helping coordinate the 1964 Freedom Summer voter registration drive. In 1965, she became Administrative Director and special assistant to Rustin at the A. Philip Randolph Institute, building multiracial coalitions of labor and civil rights groups. Embracing Rustin’s call to move “From Protest to Politics,” she became the first Political Director of the American Federation of Teachers in 1974, serving until 1995. Horowitz was also on the Democratic National Committee’s Executive Committee from 1980 to 1996. She consulted on the 2023 Netflix biopic Rustin and received the AFT’s Bayard Rustin Award in 2024. (Photo by Andre Chung.)

Terrance Woodbury's background as a campaign operative informs his approach to polling, ensuring data translates into actionable strategy to win campaigns. He has worked with national political committees such as the DNC and DSCC, international philanthropies such as Rockefeller and Gates Foundations, and other major organizations to shape their research and outreach. His work has earned numerous accolades, including POLITICO’s Recast 2023 Power List and American Association of Political Consultants 40 Under 40 Class of 2023.

Under Terrance’s leadership, HIT Strategies has grown from a small startup to a 30+ person firm since 2019, becoming a go-to resource for understanding and mobilizing key voting blocs. His expertise has made him a sought-after media  analyst, with insights featured in The Washington Post, POLITICO, The Wall Street Journal, The Hill, USA Today, NPR, and on CNN, MSNBC and Showtime’s The Circus.

Previously, he was Research Director at a boutique polling firm and worked at the Brookings Institution, analyzing economic and demographic trends. Before focusing on data, he worked across campaign management, fundraising, organizing, and communications at all levels.

A Morehouse College graduate, Terrance remains committed to amplifying underrepresented voices, a mission shaped by his late mother, Shanna Monique Woodbury.

Dr. Nii-Quartelai Quartey is a political journalist, Pepperdine University professor and prominent convener in the fields of dialogue and social change. Throughout his career, he has been featured on various media outlets, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, MSNBC, CNN, CBS News, NewsNation, SiriusXM, TheGrio and as a daily news anchor for FOX Broadcasting and FOX SOUL. 

Now he serves as Host & White House Correspondent for "A More Perfect Union" radio talk show and podcast produced by KBLA Talk 1580. Before returning to his passion for political journalism, for almost two decades Dr. Quartey had developed his expertise in national affairs by being actively engaged in policy advocacy efforts on issues ranging from civil and human rights to childhood obesity to senior issues. These experiences have been foundational to Dr. Quartey's distinctive approach to this work, always aspiring to humanize leaders, listen for teachable moments, cautionary tales, and challenge underlying assumptions.

Born into a Ghanaian-American family, Dr. Quartey holds a doctoral degree in organizational leadership and a master's degree in social entrepreneurship and change from Pepperdine University. He also holds a Bachelor's degree in Political Science with a minor in Critical Approaches to Leadership from the University of Southern California. He lives in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles.

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