A. Philip Randolph
(1889-1979)

African-American Labor Leader

Labor Hall of Fame
1964 Presidential Medal of Freedom

1967 Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award
1967 Eugene V. Debs Outstanding American Award
1970 Humanist of the Year


birthdate:
April 15
birthplace: Crescent City, Florida

Asa Philip Randolph was one of the greatest black leaders in the American labor movement and has been called the "grandfather of the civil rights movement." His activism began in New York in 1917 when he started the magazine, The Messenger (which became the Black Worker), which advocated for civil rights for African Americans. He helped to organize black workers in New York and in the 1920s founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, which would become the first successful trade union for African Americans. When World War II broke out, Asa Randolph organized a large March on Washington, which convinced President Roosevelt to issue an Executive Order in 1941 banning discrimination in federal bureaus and in the defense industry. After the war, President Truman bowed to Randolph's pressure and issued an Executive Order banning segregation in the military. In 1950, Randolph and two other civil rights giants, Roy Wilkins and Arnold Aronson, founded the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. This coalition has helped to champion every major national civil rights law in America since the 1950s. Asa Philip Randolph was in charge of the famous March on Washington at which Martin Luther King, Jr. famously delivered his "I Have A Dream" speech. In the 1960s, Randolph and civil rights leader Bayard Rustin co-founded the A. Philip Randolph Institute, to continue the struggle for economic, political and social justice and equality for all working Americans.

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