Black History Month - A. Philip Randolph
A. Philip Randolph was born April 15, 1889, in Crescent City, Florida to the late Rev. James and Elizabeth Randolph. As a young boy, he attended the Cookman Institute in East Jacksonville which was, for years, the only academic high school for African Americans in Florida. His passion for economic, racial, and social equality for African Americans was instilled by his parents. Later he became known as a successful and outspoken advocate for working-class African Americans. He was an active member of the Socialist Party and the Co-editor of the Messenger, an African American Socialist magazine in 1917. After a 10-year arduous campaign, He successfully organized the Brotherhood of the Sleeping Car Porters in 1935. The Pullman porters were college-educated, black male service staff for the railroad cars. Also, in 1941, he organized an unprecedented March on Washington called “10,000 Loyal Negro Americans” that highlighted discriminatory practices against blacks in the armed services. Six days before the march, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802 banning discrimination against black workers in the armed services and established the Fair Employment Practices Commission. Again in 1948, Randolph’s superb organizing skills led to President Harry S. Truman issuing an executive order ending segregation in the armed services. Later in March 1963, he co-organized the famous March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom where the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famed “I Have a Dream” speech. In 1964, Randolph received the highest honor given to a citizen, Presidential Medal of Freedom, by President Lyndon B. Johnson. He had such an impact on the labor movement, the AFL-CIO has a labor institute named in his honor. He passed away May 16, 1979.
