Rushing (Byron) is born in New York City.

The son of William and Linda (Turpin) Rushing, Byron Rushing grows up in Syracuse, arrives in Boston to attend Harvard University in 1960, and becomes a community organizer, initially with the Congress of Racial Equality in Syracuse, then with the Northern Student Movement in Boston in 1964. After working for the South End Neighborhood Action Program and the Urban League, he serves as president of the Museum of Afro-American History (1972-1985) and in the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1983-2019). He marries Frieda Garcia and lives for many years at 25 Rutland Square.