Lost Prophet

Lost Prophet : The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin by John D'Emilio, Free Press, 2010. 

Bayard Rustin

Rustin began not in the civil-rights movement, but rather in the pacifist movement of the early twentieth century. Black American soldiers coming back from the end of World War II were upset that although they had fought for the freedom of others they themselves were not free in racist America. This was part of the genesis of the early civil rights movement. 

Civil Rights Movement

Bayard Rustin was one of the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. The book describes the lunch counter integration movement. Martin Luther King learned his philosophy of non-violent activism largely from Bayard Rustin.

Homosexuality

People who knew Bayard personally knew he was a homosexual, but they did not tell the press. Rustin kept in the background of the civil rights movement, because hew was afraid that his homosexuality would become public if he became too prominent.