Thoughts on Blueprints to Freedom

Response to Blueprints to Freedom

            Shining a spotlight on one of the unsung heroes of the civil rights movement, Blueprints to Freedom, gives the audience an inside look at the conversations and arguments among leaders of the movement, as well as the internal tensions of Bayard Rustin.  The blood, sweat, and tears, required to pull off one of the climactic moments of the civil rights movement are on full display throughout this play.  Struggles for freedom and justice are complicated, and they involve humans with complex identities.  Rustin, a nonviolent organizing mastermind, faced betrayal, humiliation, and the constant threat of violence as a gay black man in America.  Rustin’s self-doubt and resilience seem to wrestle each other throughout the performance, and in the end we remember that seeming defeats are mixed in with the victories, but hope is the common thread to which we must cling.

            In the first act of the play we see the butting heads of the civil rights leaders as they grapple with differing means to the common end of justice.  Rustin and civil rights leader, Phillip Randolph, argue over protest and politics.  On one hand their righteous anger boils up and those on the margins demand to be heard, through protest.  On the other hand, Randolph reminds Rustin of the politics of the affairs.  They must fully commit to nonviolent, integrated demonstrations in order to not only be heard, but for change to take place.  The latter work is the more difficult and complicated.  Rustin has to reconcile his true emotions with his prudence to organize such a massive demonstration. 

This lesson, like many others in the play, is relevant for activists today. A certain group or organization may have a particular agenda for social change, but not the power or influence to carry the plans out.  Thus, a coalition between groups, between organizations, or between movements must form to build that influence.  However, there is a cost association with each addition to the coalition.  Issues relevant to one group may be irrelevant or regressive to another group.  So sacrifices have to be made to establish a broader, more encompassing coalition.  For example, in the play John Lewis was asked to amend his speech so as not to alienate some of those assembled through his militant language.  These sacrifices even affect the personal identities of those involved.  It is revealed that Dr. Martin Luther King had to disassociate from Rustin for a time because he feared Rustin’s past participation with the communist party and homosexuality would negatively affect the movement.  The civil rights movement garnered plenty of success, but at what cost to other movements?  The leaders of the civil rights movement determined that the time was not right for LGBT rights to be pushed for, or connected to their movement, though sexuality discrimination and defamation severely affected one of the architects of their movement. 

Blueprints to Freedom presented the messiness of the struggle for freedom and the humanness of those pushing for social change.  Rustin certainly was an architect, and his blueprints are still relevant to us today.  He created blueprints for an intersectional freedom struggle, which the leaders of today would be wise to heed.