In a landmark 1977 speech, Bayard Rustin called for expanding the civil rights movement into a comprehensive human right coalition to confront social, economic, and political injustices. He emphasized opposition to all forms of dictatorship and the need to address economic and social welfare as integral to human rights.
By the late 1970's, the civil rights movement's legislature victories coexisted with persistence economic inequality, urban crises, and emerging social justice movements including womens, lgbtq+, and disability rights. Rustin's speech reflected a strategic shift toward building broad coalitions that addressed intersecting oppressions within a growing international human rights framework inspired by the 1975 Helsinki Accords, a landmark agreement that included provisions for respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms among participating nations.
Rustin, Bayard. “Landmark Speech Advocating a Broader Human Rights Movement.” Speech transcript, October 6, 1977. University of South Carolina. https://digital.tcl.sc.edu/digital/collection/mblogan/id/46.
