The 2023 Netflix film “Rustin'' brought visibility and recognition to Bayard Rustin, a celebrated icon of the US Civil Rights movement who is featured at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights.   

On the day of Bayard Rustin's birth (March 17, 1912), the LGBTQ+ Institute at NCCHR will celebrate its first-ever Bayard Rustin Day, honoring the man who mobilized collective action for civil rights.   The Day will address what collective action means in the fight for human dignity in 2024. 

After a brief networking hour where guests will have access to the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection, Atlanta LGBTQ History Project’s Out Down South exhibit, and a panel from the Queer Justice exhibit, our host, Judge Hatchett, will introduce a young adult panel featuring the experts listed below.  

To close our time together, we will host a fireside chat between Walter Naegel, Bayard Rustin's life partner, and Tim’m West, the Center’s LGBTQ+ Institute Director.  Naegel will reflect on Rustin's legacy on political organizing and the fight for human dignity today.  

Panel participants:  

• Toni-Michelle Williams, Executive Director of Solutions NOT Punishment Collaborative.

• Marcus Lee, Cotsen Postdoctoral Fellow in LGBT Studies and Lecturer in the Department of African American Studies, Princeton University. 

• Evan Malbrough, Founder, Georgia Youth Poll Worker Project and Speak Truth to Power Youth Advisory Board Member at the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights organization. 

• Carlton McCall, President, Bayard Rustin LGBTQ+ Raleigh A Philip Randolph Institute (APRI) Chapter. 

• Moderator:   Craig Washington LMSW Innervisions LLC. 

Our Host: judge Hatchett

Judge Glenda A. Hatchett is not only a world-renown judge, but she is a prominent attorney with more than 40 years of experience which encompasses a multitude of legal responsibilities.

Currently, Hatchett is Of Counsel with the law firm of Stewart Miller Simmons based in Atlanta, Georgia, handling cases throughout the nation. The State Bar of Georgia honored her with the Social Justice Advocacy and Action Award; she was only the fourth person ever to receive this award. She was named Distinguished Alumna at Mt. Holyoke College, later granting her an honorary degree. Her other alma mater, Emory University Law School, named her Outstanding Alumni of the Year. Emory University also presented her with the highest award given to university alumni, the Emory Medal. She is a member of both the Georgia Bar and the Bar of the District of Columbia.

Hatchett then spent nearly 10 years at Delta Air Lines, where she was the airline's highest-ranking woman of color worldwide. Ebony magazine recognized her as one of the nation's most outstanding women in corporate America.

Hatchett presided over the two-time Emmy-nominated show Judge Hatchett, which is in its 23rd season of national syndication (Sony Pictures Television). Most recently, Hatchett has returned to TV with her new television court series, The Verdict With Judge Hatchett. She presides over the series as a follow-up to Sony's long-running Judge Hatchett. Hatchett is also the author of the National Best Sellers, Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say (Harper Collins, 2003) and Dare to Take Charge (Center Street / Hachette Book Group, 2010). Keep up with Judge Hatchett on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @TheJudgeHatchett Contact her at the law firm of Stewart Miller Simmons: (404) LAW-FIRM Hatchett has consistently shown her commitment to community development through her service on various nonprofit boards, including the National Board of Governors of the Boys and Girl Club of America, the Leadership Circle for the After School Alliance, and the Advisory Board for the Women's Resource Center at Spelman College.

panelists

Toni-Michelle Williams

Executive Director of Solutions NOT Punishment Collaborative

Toni-Michelle Williams is an award winning- multifaceted professional known for her roles as a performance artist, creative director, and embodied leadership coach. In addition to her artistic talents, she holds the esteemed position of Co-Founder and Executive Director of Solutions Not Punishment Collaborative, Inc. (SNAPCO). Her advocacy extends to diverse communities, encompassing Black transgender and LGBQIA+ individuals, sex workers, people living with HIV (PLHIV), and Black youth.  Her remarkable leadership has been instrumental in co-leading citywide campaigns that have given rise to initiatives such as the Atlanta Policing Alternatives and Diversion Initiative, cannabis reform, protections for sex workers, the closure of the Atlanta City Detention Center (ACDC), and the pursuit of police accountability in cases involving the families of individuals like Alexia Christian, Scout Schultz, DeAundre Phillips, Tee Tee Dangerfield, and Rayshard Brooks. Toni-Michelle seamlessly combines her creative prowess with her activism, utilizing supernatural grace and a sense of sacred silliness as tools to unlock joy and satisfaction.

Carlton McCalL

President of the Bayard Rustin LGBTQ+ Raleigh A Philip Randolph Institute APRI Chapter

Carlton McCall was born on August 4th, 1993, in Duke University Hospital in Durham NC, Raised in Raleigh NC. He moved to Sanford NC where he graduated from Lee County Senior High School in 2012. After pursuing 3 years of college, he decided to continue his education in cosmetology at Sanford Beauty College in 2015 where he specialized in natural hair. In 2020, he became a phone banker with the North Carolina A. Philip Randolph Institute in Raleigh/Durham area where he later became a Relational Organizer in 2021. In 2022, he became the President of the Bayard Rustin LGBTQ Raleigh APRI Chapter. On June 17, 2022, he witnessed history in a Hillsborough, NC courthouse where charges against Bayard Rustin were exonerated 75 years after the first freedom ride in 1947 (also known as the Journey of Reconciliation). Although he has a passion for hair, he found his true passion in the community by educating and learning the true meaning of being a voice for the LGBTQ+ community across North Carolina. Carlton has 10+ years of management experience, 5years of cosmetology experience, and always eager to learn more each day.  

Marcus Lee

Cotsen Postdoctoral Fellow in LGBT Studies and Lecturer in the Department of African American Studies, Princeton University

Marcus Lee is the Cotsen Postdoctoral Fellow in LGBT studies and lecturer in the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University. His research concerns 20th century black political history, social movements, black popular culture, and science and technology. He earned a PhD in Political Science at the University of Chicago and a BA in Sociology at Morehouse College. His research examines histories and historical representations of 20th century black politics and culture, especially including black gay/lesbian political formations and has been supported by grants from the Social Science Research Council, the Mellon Mays Foundation, and the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture at the University of Chicago. His forthcoming project, "The Search for Our Bayard," examines shifting biographical renderings of Bayard Rustin, from 1987 to 2013. Marcus recently wrote an essay for Los Angeles Review of Books that considers the recent biopic and its role in normalizing Bayard Rustin’s legacy which can be read HERE.

Evan Malbrough

Founder, Georgia Youth Poll Worker Project and Speak Truth to Power Youth Advisory Board Member at the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights organization

Evan Malbrough is a native of Smyrna, Georgia. He is a 2020 graduate of Georgia State University with a degree in Public Policy, a minor in Cello Performance, and an inductee to Georgia State University’s 2022 40 under 40 class. At GSU, Evan was a founding member of his Vote Everywhere, where he led civic engagement programming on campus. While pursuing his undergraduate studies, Evan served as a Summer Research Fellow at the United States Department of Defense, serving at the Pentagon. At the Pentagon, Evan worked in legislative affairs and worked to support the DOD Office of General Counsel. Upon graduating, Evan became a 2020 Puffin Fellow with the Andrew Goodman Foundation. Evan founded the Georgia Youth Poll Worker Project, recruiting 1000 poll workers for the 2020 general election and 2021 runoff. The ACLU of Georgia officially acquired the Georgia Youth Poll Worker Project in December of 2021. He serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Andrew Goodman Foundation and as a Speak Truth to Power Youth Advisory Board Member at the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights organization. Finally, Evan is a writer who has published in publications such as Forbes, Teen Vogue, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.