A. Philip Randolph’s legacy was cemented as a part of the “Big 6,” a group of African American leaders who organized the 1963 March on Washington. However, Randolph’s activism began decades earlier in New York, where he started a movement that advanced the rights of Black workers throughout the country.
After moving to Harlem from his native Florida in 1911, Randolph was drawn to the labor movement, and in 1917 created “The Messenger,” a magazine that urged Black workers to unionize in fields outside of the war movement, his way of publicly denouncing America’s involvement in the First World War.
Randolph’s next move was a 1920 campaign for the role of New York state comptroller. Despite an unsuccessful bid as a socialist candidate, he secured 202,000 votes, proving a Black candidate could get political support.
Starting in 1925, Randolph led the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, a union created to get the Pullman Company to sign contracts with them. After a 12-year fight, the Pullman Company signed a contract with the labor union in 1937, leading to decreased working hours and increased wages. In addition, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was the first African American-led labor union to receive a charter in the American Federation of Labor.
Randolph remained a fierce advocate for union workers throughout the rest of his life. By the time he retired as leader of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in 1968, Randolph had organized marches, won an executive order from President Harry S. Truman and was elected a vice president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) to advocate for the rights of workers.
Randolph believed fighting for the rights of workers was fighting for the rights of anyone struggling to get by.
“The labor movement traditionally has been the only haven for the dispossessed, the despised, the neglected, the downtrodden and the poor,” he said in 1966 while presenting the Freedom Budget at a convention for the AFL-CIO. The budget plan called for $185 billion to be allocated over a decade to eliminate poverty in the United States. While the plan was unsuccessful in Congress, it helped shape the policies of many labor unions throughout the country.
Randolph died in 1979 at the age of 90, after more than 50 years fighting for the advancement of African Americans and the working class.
Contact staff writer Breanna Cooper at 317-762-7848. Follow her on Twitter @BreannaNCooper.
A. Philip Randolph
