Bayard Rustin was instrumental in organizing the Montgomery Bus Boycott and was the chief organizer for the 1963 March on Washington, though he himself faced discrimination while fighting for civil rights.
Related | The Personal Life of Bayard Rustin
Because he was gay, Rustin has largely been overlooked as a leader of the Civil Rights Movement, though nearly 30 years after his death, his legacy continues to grow. In 2013, President Obama posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Rustin and this Saturday, Dr. King's son will pay tribute to Bayard Rustin at Logo's Trailblazer Honors.
"Bayard Rustin was a champion," said Martin Luther King III. "Not just a champion of the LGBT community, but a champion of the civil rights movement and humanity itself. Prejudice may have scratched his name from the history books, but during the Trailblazer Honors we will come together to remember the legacy he left behind. As many fail to realize, Bayard Rustin was a vital strategist, advisor, and more than anything, a brother to my father. I am proud to stand with Logo to present this award, and beyond honored to celebrate a man as exceptionally heroic as Bayard Rustin."
Raven-Symone will introduce MLK3 and Rustin's surviving partner Walter Naegle will accept the Trailblazer Honor on his behalf. Rep. John Lewis, Rep. Eleanor Holmes-Norton and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black will also be part of a special video tribute to Rustin.
Check out the Oscar-winner speaking about Rustin below:
Trailblazer Honors airs Saturday, June 27 at 8pm on Logo.