BERGMAN GEARS UP FOR THIS YEAR’S SYMPOSIUM
Rustin honored as singer, organizer, teacher, proponent of nonviolence
Vallejo resident Anna Bergman’s Zoom background is of a vast library — floor to ceiling books in some bibliophile’s repository. It makes sense for a historian and archivist such as herself.
“I like archiving because it is looking at the basic information of where someone was and what they were doing at a certain time,” she says.
One of her favorite people from history is Bayard Rustin, known by most as an associate of Martin Luther King, Jr., but also as an openly gay Black man in a time when it was not easy to be either on the public stage. For Bergman, he is not a “footnote” activist during the civil rights movement — he was a force all his own.
“I came to these conclusions from looking at his correspondence, plans, and itineraries and how busy and active he was while supposedly ‘in the background,’” she says. “When people talk about about him being in the background, that is all in the eye of the beholder. He was active, he was doing many things.”
Bergman has organized an annual Bayard Rustin Symposium in Vallejo for three years now, though she had to skip last year due to the pandemic. But this year she is just going for it, she says, because she misses the event and also wanted something to focus on during this time of social distancing.
Rustin (1912-1987) was a singer, organizer, teacher, and proponent of nonviolence. Bergman is a veritable encyclopedia of his life and experiences, including all the nuance of being unapologetically gay, unapologetically Black, and summarily embraced and rejected by people from within his own community throughout his life.
The first symposium focused on Rustin and his work and legacy, along with other matters of race and social justice. This year’s will use the idea of “racism from within the community” as a jumping off point. By this Bergman means prejudice against people from within marginalized communities themselves or from people who are working for social change, such as the women’s rights movement that revolved around mostly white women, or even the disabilities movement, which turned its focus only on certain approaches or expressions of “disability.”
To wit, she will be hosting Professor Roxanne Dummet of George Mason University. Dummet studies deaf culture in the Black community.
“Black deaf people face discrimination from white deaf people,” says Bergman. “Even when you see discussions about disability it’s going to show white people.”
Dummet will speak at the symposium about the “hidden treasure” of Black ASL (American Sign Language). All subcommunities of people with hearing challenges have their own slang and culture, and the Black community is no different.
Bergman, a white woman, says that she sees some of these same inter-community prejudices coming from white liberals like herself, especially in Vallejo.
“I care very much about inequality and white supremacy,” she says. “Bayard’s experience amongst a lot of white progressives reminded me of people I knew. I listened to the experience of African American friends of mine who were working in housing justice for example, and the racism that they experienced from progressives. I think that’s something that happens in Vallejo a lot.”
The most recent example of this, she feels, is the McCune Commission, a private library that was bequeathed to the city that contains some vintage books that some say celebrate white supremacy, such as the killing of Native Americans. A white woman on its board referred to Councilmember Hakeem Brown as an ‘uppity kneegrow” and he questioned her about it at a council meeting. Bergman has spoke out forcefully against her words.
“I am going to oppose and speak out against racism. And if you use the word ‘but’ you have lost me. ‘I oppose racism, but…’ What that woman did was wrong.”
Bergman has come to the defense of Brown many times, which has given pause to some who wonder if she condones his past history of arrests and incarceration for violence against women of color.
“I think that you need to oppose racism at all times for anyone and anywhere. It doesn’t matter whether you like the person or approve of the person,” she said.
She compares her support for Brown to Rustin’s own complicated journey and the complicated decisions he had to make in his life for what he saw as the greater good. Rustin knew that he could make progress for people of color by aligning with the Johnson Administration, she says, so he chose not to speak out about the Vietnam War, for example.
“He made decisions that people disagreed with. So I don’t think that speaking out about racism is taking anything away from anyone.”
One thing that Bergman objects to is being called an “ally” of people of color. She prefers “supporter.”
“I am an ally to people who specifically request me to be an ally. But otherwise I think it’s extremely presumptuous. ‘Allies’ means you are under the same threat. Britain and France were allies in World War II because they were both being bombed. White people are not subjected to racism and white supremacy.”
It’s also why she specifically does not hold the symposium in February, Black History Month, which she sees as usurping and disrespectful. Besides, she says, Black history is year ‘round.
Aside from Professor Dummett, the symposium will include Reverend Danté R. Quick on the legacy of Rustin, the Reverend Mark Wilson and Andrea Shorter on dismantling white supremacy, a panel on racial equity initiatives with Anne “Mama” Shine, Honey Mahogany, Mandy Carter, and Lawrence Shine, and keynote by Bishop Yvette Flunder. Music will also be provided by BLACKBERRI.
The event takes place on March 20.
For a Zoom invite, email rustinsymposium@gmail.com and go to http://bayardrustincoalition.com/ event/bayard-rustin-symposium/ for more information.