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.
