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Proud & Free: A Pride and Juneteenth Celebration

for All Generations

Celebrate with crafts, activities, and a picture book reading for all ages, followed by an interview with Walter Naegle and movie screening of "Rustin," (recommended for teens and adults).

4pm-5:30pm - Crafts, activities, and readings of the book Unstoppable: How Bayard Rustin Organized the 1963 March on Washington

5:30pm - Pre-Screening Conversation with Bayard Rustin's partner/RHS grad Walter Naegle and RHS Librarian Roxana Caivano

6pm - Movie screening of "Rustin".  Pizza will be served to the moviegoers. 

Celebrate community, history, and self-expression at this family-friendly library event honoring both Pride and Juneteenth. All ages are invited to enjoy a fun and welcoming evening filled with crafts, activities, and opportunities to learn and connect together. The evening will feature a screening of the inspiring 2023 film Rustin, which shares the story of civil rights leader Bayard Rustin and his role in shaping American history.

Before the movie, everyone can take part in a conversation with Rustin's partner and RHS grad Walter Naegle and RHS Librarian Roxana Caivano, who will highlight some special things to watch for in the movie and offer insight about Bayard Rustin’s life and legacy. Join us for an uplifting evening that celebrates diversity, kindness, peaceful protest, and the power of coming together as a community. All are welcome!

About the Movie Rustin: Activist Bayard Rustin faces racism and homophobia as he helps change the course of Civil Rights history by orchestrating the 1963 March on Washington.  Starring Colman Domingo, Chris Rock and Glynn Turman.

About Bayard Rustin:  Bayard Rustin was a brilliant strategist, pacifist, and forward-thinking civil rights leader whose work shaped the movement of the 1950s and 1960s. A mentor to Martin Luther King Jr., he championed nonviolent civil resistance and played a central role behind the scenes of major efforts for equality. In 1947, he helped organize the “Journey of Reconciliation,” a precursor to the Freedom Rides, testing segregation laws in interstate travel. Rustin also studied Gandhian principles in India and organized protests abroad. As an openly gay man, however, he often faced discrimination that pushed him out of the spotlight, despite his vital contributions.  Born in 1912 in West Chester, Pennsylvania, Rustin was raised in a Quaker family deeply engaged in social justice. He attended several colleges, including Wilberforce University and the City College of New York, and supported himself as a singer in New York City. His commitment to civil rights came at great personal cost, including multiple arrests. Working closely with labor leader A. Philip Randolph, Rustin became the chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington. In later years, he advocated for human rights and LGBTQ+ equality. Rustin died in 1987, and in 2013 was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.

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