Justice for all

Bayard Rustin: it’s a name that is not particularly well-known to most of us. His contribution to the United States civil rights movement usually receives only surface recognition: “Bayard Rustin was a civil rights activist best known for organizing the 1963 March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I have a dream” speech.” Yet, it is probably accurate to say that without Bayard Rustin, Martin Luther King Jr. may not have become a fierce proponent of nonviolent tactics, and without Rustin, the civil rights movement - though certainly still a powerful force - would not have changed the course of American history as it did.

The example of Rustin - one of the most influential, but least-known civil rights leaders - begs the question: for those of us in this generation looking to ‘be the change’ where does our own commitment really lie? It seems that though we may commit ourselves to working in NGOs, as social entrepreneurs or in social businesses we are often more concerned with our personal experiences and advancement than building a more just world; we struggle between our own ambitions and the selfless objectivity needed to bring about meaningful change. Not everyone could play the role of Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Abernathy, Rosa Parks or John Lewis in the civil rights movement. Many more had to be just as committed to the movement knowing that they may never receive the same positions of leadership or “personal success” that those individuals did. Yet, their contributions were as important (and in some instances, even more important) as those leaders to building a better world.

Bayard Rustin spent a good part of his younger years as a pacifist activist, and traveled to India to learn from Gandhian disciples. In 1956, following Rosa Parks courageous refusal to surrender her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, a series of boycotts erupted. Rustin traveled to Montgomery to help infuse the core ideals of non-violence into these efforts. A story from the book “Lost Prophet,” illustrates how essential Rustin’s presence was:

There were guns lying all about King’s house, and Rustin often recounted a humorous incident with himself and Bill Worthy. As Worthy…prepared to sit on one of the chairs in King’s living room, Rustin called out to him, “Bill wait, wait. Couple of guns in that chair. You don’t want to shoot yourself!”

The idea of Martin Luther King having guns around his house may seem to be an oxymoron, but it also highlights just how important Rustin’s guidance were in those early periods of civil rights efforts in building a nonviolent movement. Today, Rustin’s name may not be familiar, but his impact - from non-violent protest as a key tactic, to the formation of the SCLC, to the March on Washington, to the linkages of the civil rights efforts to broader economic and social justice efforts - reverberates throughout the United States and many parts of the world.

Martin Luther King Jr. has many well-known speeches and sermons. One that is slightly less known is his “Drum-Major Instinct” speech. The “Instinct” that he refers to is the “desire in all of us to be first.” It seems that our generation needs to be able reach beyond this “Drum-Major Instinct” to dedicate ourselves to a broader cause. Just as Bayard Rustin was able to bring about tremendous change in a selfless manner, what our generation needs is continual discernment of the motivations that drive our actions while maintaining a commitment to bringing about great change.

The Author

Ankur is a rising senior at Northwestern University majoring in biomedical engineering. He is currently taking a year off from school to work full-time for GlobeMed, a network of students advancing the movement for health equity. Working with communities in rural Panama on various engineering projects, and having a summer internship at Global Health Delivery Online has heavily influenced Ankur’s thoughts about issues of poverty, structural violence, and development. Ankur is originally from the small town of Menomonie in Wisconsin, believes that Taco Bell is infinitely more satisfying than Chipotle, and enjoys a competitive game of Super Smash Brothers anytime. He also blogs at Students for Global Health Equity.

You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation. - Brigham Young

In my country Nigeria, so much emphasis and importance is placed on marriage. A woman is not considered a well-rounded individual without the tag of ‘Mrs.’ before her name. I’m not against the institution of marriage, in fact, quite the contrary. However, my problem with this ‘marriage before self development syndrome’ prevalent in my country is this: it does not encourage or allow for the intellectual development of young girls. This is because the importance of marriage above all else is imbibed into the mental psyche of young girls. Girls are groomed from a young age to be nothing other than the perfect wives and mothers, and any thoughts or aspiration to be anything other than the perfect wife, is fiercely discouraged and in some cases, even shunned.

Additionally, women who are unlucky to find themselves in an abusive marriage or are victims of spousal abuse and other forms of domestic violence tend not to seek for outside intervention or even leave the marriage because of the negative impression of divorces in Nigeria. For both cultural and (sometimes) religious reasons, most women under difficult circumstances are reluctant to report their abusive husbands to law enforcement authorities. While there are laws in place to combat these forms of gender-based violence and improve the development of women and young girls, these laws are inadequate to sufficiently penalize the culprit and compensate the victim. Moreover, the government does not take education (both the education of general population and women in particular) as serious as it should as the funds budgeted for education, are often, diverted to the private bank accounts of government officials.

I’ve been fortunate to come from a family where education is considered absolutely important. My parents believed that the best gift they could ever give me was good education and as a result, I was given the gift of books. I was allowed to spend copious amount of time at the library and funds were set aside solely for buying books. My dad encouraged voracious reading, allowing me to expand my knowledge beyond what I was taught in school and so nurtured me into the book lover that I am today. More importantly, it helped in molding me into the individual that I am today. I’m a BIG dreamer but the education that I’ve achieved thus far helped me take this further; it made me become a doer. It opened my mind and imagination, and created a belief that my only hindrance is not my sex but how far I can dream and willing to work towards that dream.

It goes without saying that this privilege I have comes with added responsibility and it is this privilege of books, of education that I want to share with as many young Nigerian girls as possible. I want to give other young girls the opportunity that I have. This is because I firmly believe that education is truly the way to transform the reality of these women for the better. With education, these young girls will get to know and understand that they are the pillars of the society that they have more to offer to the country and the world at large.

As I move back to Nigeria January next year, my short-term goal is to highlight the importance of educating young girls and women. I plan to setup non-governmental organization (NGO) that focuses on promoting the education of young girls and women. The motto will be educating a generation, one woman at a time. Its foremost goal is to encourage the young girls and women to “dream big.” It will seek through scholarship programs increase the number of young girls currently in schools, and through free motivational talks and self-development initiatives encourage those struggling or under pressure from families and culture not to give up or drop out of school to get married.

My long-term goal is to build women-only institutions that focus on the intellectual development of women. I want it to be the birthplace of the next generation of powerful women that will bring the change my country desperately needs. I firmly believe that education is the first step in uprooting the feminine face of poverty and help in the development of hardworking, self-confident and socially progressive woman. Women have a strong and important role to play in any given society, and they cannot do this if they are downtrodden and denied important rights such as education. Educating the younger generation is the greatest investment the Nigerian government can ever make if it truly wants to identify itself as the giant of Africa and I want to kick start that investment now.

The Changemaker

Amaka is a 20-something year old Nigerian. With previous degree in International Relation and Politics, she just finished a Masters degree in International Economic Law from the University of Warwick. She enjoys travelling and calls herself a modern day nomad. When she is not planning and researching her next voyage, she enjoys reading, writing and learning new languages. The top three items on her Bucket List are: travelling the world (yes, that includes North Korea and Burma), building libraries in the 36 states that make up Nigeria and organize a truly African music festival to raise awareness on the importance of educating women and funds for building & maintaining the aforementioned libraries. Follow me on twitter: @MsAmaka