The Mosaic Templars Cultural Center hosts “Celebrating the Life and Times of Bayard Rustin,” a tribute to the late civil rights worker sponsored by the Center for Artistic Revolution, tonight at 7 p.m. Rustin (1912-1987) was a pacifist who worked for civil and gay rights and was the chief organizer for the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, though his sexual orientation kept him from being given the credit he deserved. President Obama will present the Medal of Freedom Award to Rustin posthumously on Nov. 20.
Speakers will be Mandy Carter of the National Black Justice Coalition and Ernest Green of the Little Rock Nine. Sabrina Zarco will exhibit her “Social Justice” art series, including a tapestry portrait of Rustin.
CAR partners in the even are the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site and Philander Smith College. Other sponsors include the National Black Justice Coalition’s Bayard Rustin Commemoration Project; National Association of Black & White Men Together; Just Communities of Arkansas; the Arkansas Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice; Jay & Brett Miracle-Huie; Kyle Boswell and Jon Mourot; Catherine Crisp and Kaye McKinzie; Rev. Howard H. Gordon and Roberta A. Saxon; The Living Affected Corporation; Jay Barth and Chuck Cliett; Green Cuisine; ACLU of Arkansas; Human Rights Campaign; Barb Kampbell Photography
and Allen Loibner-Waitkus.