Rustin's Challenge

This edited collection, co-edited by Benjamin Fong and Paul Prescod, centers on the later political interventions and ideas of Bayard Rustin, examining his critiques of the New Left and his proposal of the Freedom Budget.

The book reassesses Rustin's post-1963 work and argues against the narrative that he was simply co-opted or abandoned the movement.

It brings together essays that situate Rustin as a strategist who sought to link racial justice to broad economic redistribution and class-based organizing.

The collection aims to recover his programmatic contributions to both civil rights and labor politics, highlighting connections between race, labor, and political strategy.

By focusing on Rustin's later career, the volume reopens debates about strategy, coalition-building, and the role of labor in achieving racial and economic justice.