Born and raised in Chicago, BENNETt SINGER has been making social-issue documentaries for more than 20 years. In addition to Brother Outsider, which he produced and directed with Nancy Kates, his credits include the Emmy- and Peabody-winning series on the history of the American civil rights movement, Eyes on the Prize II; With God On Our Side; and The Question of Equality, all broadcast nationally on public television. His latest film, co-directed with David Deschamps and Leslie D. Farrell, is Electoral Dysfunction, a feature-length documentary about voting and voting rights. Hosted by political humorist Mo Rocca, it had a dual premiere at the 2012 Democratic and Republican Conventions; aired nationally on PBS; and won the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award, the ABA’s highest honor for media projects. It can be viewed on multiple digital platforms; an award-winning Classroom Edition is available at no charge for use in middle and high schools (learn more at www.electoraldysfunction.org). Bennett served for eight years as Executive Editor of TIME Magazine’s Education Program and is the editor of several books, including Growing Up Gay/Growing Up Lesbian, an anthology for young people, and LGBTQ Stats, forthcoming in December from The New Press. He resides in Brooklyn with his husband, filmmaker David Deschamps; they are currently developing a multi-part television series on the history of same-sex desire in cultures around the globe.

WALTER NAEGLE was Bayard Rustin’s life partner for the last decade of Rustin’s life. In November 2013, he accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom that Barack Obama bestowed posthumously on Rustin at a White House ceremony; that same year, he was featured in the “OUT 100,” OUT Magazine’s annual list of the most influential members of the LGBT community. Walter serves as Executive Director of The Bayard Rustin Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to sustaining Rustin’s vision of a more peaceful and equitable world. An accomplished photographer, he accompanied Rustin on a number of international missions, investigating the conditions of refugees and prospects for democracy in countries experiencing social change, including El Salvador, Grenada, Haiti, and South Africa. He has presented at numerous conferences and symposia, including Creating Change: The National Conference on LGBT Equality, and is a former volunteer with the GI Rights Hotline and the Prisoner Visitation and Support Program. With Jacqueline Houtman and Michael Long, Walter is the co-author of Bayard Rustin: The Invisible Activist, a newly published biography for young people.

JAYSON P. SMITH is a writer whose work appears in journals such as fields magazine, Day One, The Rumpus, The Offing, & boundary2. Jayson has been a recipient of fellowships from The Conversation Literary Festival, Millay Colony for the Arts, & Callaloo, as well as scholarships from Cave Canem & The New Harmony Writers’ Workshop. Jayson lives in Brooklyn & at jaysonpsmith.com.