I Must Resist: Bayard Rustin's Life in Letters

by Bayard Rustin

On a speaking tour in California several months later, Rustin emphasized that nonviolent direct action was not just an effective strategy; it was also a dictate of Christian conscience. An extant outline of a workshop he conducted during this period—“Five Kinds of Nonviolent Direct Action Jesus Used”—depicts Jesus of Nazareth as practicing civil disobedience (“He deliberately violated the Sabbath laws”), noncooperation (“He refused to answer ‘quisling’ Herod when questioned by him”), mass marches (“Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem with a large procession of his followers [including many from Galilee] shouting revolutionary statements”), and even personal nonviolent direct action (“He drove by drastic action the exploiters [moneychangers] from the temple”).