Leaders: Myth and Reality

by General Stanley McChrystal

Rustin best summarized the necessity of building upon Montgomery’s success in a letter to King on December 23, 1956, just two days after King took his ride on Montgomery’s first desegregated bus. In Rustin’s thinking, “Montgomery possessed three features which are not found in other movements or efforts.” First, it had “given people something to belong to which had the inspiring power of the Minute Men, the Sons of Liberty, and other organized forms which were products of an earlier American era of fundamental change.” Second, through its sheer competence, the Montgomery movement had won the respect of whites. Third, it had “relied upon the active participation of people who had a daily task of action and dedication. The movement did not rely exclusively on a handful of leaders to carry through such fundamental change.”