A. PHILIP RANDOLPH

Photo Source: Library of Congress Public Domain Archive

1889-1979

“Freedom is never granted: It is won. Justice is never given: It is exacted.”

This week, we are featuring an activist from the past. Reflecting on past activists allows us to engage with and learn from the Workers Circle’s rich history. The activists we’re spotlighting from history, like A. Philip Randolph, often pioneered advances in the causes we are committed to today. Their approaches to impactful activism in their particular contexts help us see contrasts and similarities to our own and remind us that our work builds upon the tireless activism of those who came before.

A. Philip Randolph is often regarded as the most important Black labor leader in American history. He organized the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, forced President Franklin Roosevelt to ban discrimination in defense industries and urged President Truman to end discrimination in the armed forces, and chaired the 1963 March on Washington. The Workers Circle had a long and close relationship with this extraordinary pioneer in worker rights and civil rights. More on that is below, after we highlight just some of Randolph’s many achievements and contributions to American society.

In 1925, Randolph became the leader of the Pullman Porters, the Black staff who worked on the Pullman sleeping cars. For ten years, he worked to organize the Pullman Porters. Eventually, the Brotherhood of the Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) became the sole collective bargaining agent in 1935. This marked a major victory for Black workers against a corporation.

In 1940, President Roosevelt was not taking action to end discrimination in the defense industries. Randolph forced his hand by urging 10,000 Black Americans to converge on Washington, DC. The call to action spread, and Randolph was soon urging 100,000 people to march on the Capitol. Six days prior to when the march was going to begin, Roosevelt issued an executive order banning discrimination in the defense industries. He also instituted the Fair Employment Practices Commission to enforce the executive order.

During the Truman Administration, A. Philip Randolph took action against segregation in the armed forces. He created the League for Nonviolent Civil Disobedience against Military Segregation which encouraged both Black and white men to not comply with conscription. President Truman did eventually pass an executive order banning segregation in the armed forces as he needed the Black vote for re-election and he was facing possible massive civil disobedience.

Randolph was named the chair of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom due to his advocacy for civil disobedience and for his efforts to end discrimination in the armed forces.

The Workers Circle invited Randolph to speak at our biennial conventions numerous times, where he was often one of the few non-Yiddish speaking presenters to address the thousands gathered. In 1963, hundreds of Workers Circle students and adults joined him at the 1963 March on Washington.

The Workers Circle provided shoulder-to-shoulder support for A. Philip Randolph’s organizing of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and Maids and Randolph’s activist educational programming that politicized and involved thousands of Black workers in the union movement. The Workers Circle further financially supported not only the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Workers but also Randolph’s publication of The Messenger, a critical consciousness-raising magazine for Black workers.

In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded Randolph the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

When A. Philip Randolph passed away in 1979, civil rights leader Bayard Rustin stated “No individual did more to help the poor, the dispossessed and the working class in the United States and around the world than A. Philip Randolph.” A. Philip Randolph truly worked to create a shenere un besere velt far ale - a better and more beautiful world for all.

Sources: 

A. Philip Randolph, AFL-CIO, Accessed September 12, 2023

Hall of Honor Inductee: A. Philip Randolph, Department of Labor, Accessed September 12, 2023

In The Almost Promised Land: American Jews and Blacks, 1915-1935, Hasia Diner, 1997, new edition 1995.

The Call, The Workers Circle’s magazine