Manhattan
Bayard Rustin
Grand Street & Ludlow Street
This mural of civil rights leader Bayard Rustin was created by the Italian street artist Jorit Ciro Cerullo and located at 58 Ludlow Street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. This larger-than-life portrait was painted directly onto the facade of a building at the intersection of Grand Street and Ludlow Street in March of 2023. It features Jorit’s signature hyper-realistic portrait style which shows symbolic red facial scars on the cheek. This mural pays tribute Bayard Rustin’s legacy as a brilliant, non-violent strategist and close adviser to Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as the key mastermind who organized the historic 1963 March on Washington D.C.
THE RIGHT AT STAKE
This mural is not dedicated to a single, isolated right. Rather, it speaks profoundly to the intersection of human rights. It honors the idea the racial justice, economic dignity, and LGBTQ+ liberation are completely inseparable. Rustin bravely lived as an openly gay man decades before the modern gay rights movement, at a time when homosexuality was criminalized. Because of his orientation, political rivals and fellow moderate civil rights leaders forced him to work as an “invisible” strategist behind the scenes. Rustin believed deeply in Ghandi’s nonviolent action to transform a nation’s soul. This mural highlights the right of oppressed minorities to organize, protest, and demand a legal guarantee of equality.
WHY HERE?
This mural was intentionally painted near the corner of Grand Street and Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan which is a particularly meaningful backdrop for a monument to Bayard Rustin. Rustin lived in the Lower East Side of Manhattan from 1947 to 1954 so painting his face on a neighborhood building honors his actual lived New York history.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION
Can a society truly achieve justice if it chooses whose humanity to remember and whose to erase? This mural questions viewers’ understanding of justice by demanding them to consider if we can truly achieve racial equality without also fighting for economic dignity and LGBTQ+ liberation.
THEN & NOW
The Lower East Side is historically recognized as the epicenter of New York’s working-class immigrant communities and the birthplace of early American labor unions. In this way, this location honors Rustin’s legacy as a union organizer and economic strategist.
TAKE ACTION
Students can learn more about the primary organizations and advocacy groups associated with the celebration of this mural and Rustin’s legacy at: The Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice (rustincenter.org) and Bayard Rustin Institute (rustininstitute.org) at the National Civil Rights Museum.
