The true architect of the March on Washington, Bayard Rustin, is getting his time in the spotlight and Netflix has finally given us our first good look at the movie Rustin, with Colman Domingo in the titular role.
In the official trailer, we can see glimpses of the activist’s tireless actions to organize protesters and how his work intersects with the figures we know, like that of Martin Luther King. We also see glimpses of the reasons why Rustin might not be so well known despite the groundwork he did to organize the march, like the fact that he was “about as out as a Black man could be in 1960s America” as a gay man.
It is made clear just from a two-minute trailer that this made him a pariah even among the old guard of civil rights leaders. And though it’s not explicitly stated, it’s easy to infer it’s one of the reasons history didn’t really preserve his name like it did so many of the other civil rights leaders as we reach the 60th anniversary of the momentous march.
Domingo, who has received early Oscar buzz for the role of Bayard Rustin, is no stranger to acting accolades. He recently won an Emmy for his role in Euphoria and is also set to star in the upcoming remake of The Color Purple, which will premiere Christmas day. He will also don the cowl and the cape, figuratively, as he is set to voice Batman for the new Spotify audio series The Riddler: Secrets in the Dark.
Rustin, starring Colman Domingo, will be released in select theaters on November 3, 2023, and will then premiere worldwide on Netflix on November 17.