21. Bayard Rustin, Civil Rights Organizer
Bayard Rustin was an invaluable part of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 60s. A talented organizer, he helped gain a great deal of attention for the change and literally gave Martin Luther King, Jr. a platform to stand on. Sadly, Rustin was never given the limelight himself due to being openly gay. As an openly gay black man in such a tumultuous era, Rustin never received the public respect and admiration he deserved.
