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By the 1920s, 20,000 Black men were Pullman porters, the crème de la crème of luxury train travel. Not many people know that Black maids worked alongside them. Both the porters and the maids were overworked and underpaid and depended on tips to make ends meet.
The Pullman Company’s maids attended to traveling women and children, from styling hair to changing diapers. They assisted with luggage and even nursed sick passengers.
It was thankless work. When passengers lost something, they accused the maids of stealing, and the maids endured sexual harassment and abuse. Because they were at the bottom of the "train hierarchy,” maids were paid less than porters but worked longer hours.
The Pullman porters and maids attended annual conventions, canvassed, and hosted dinners to publicize their demands for better treatment. Their efforts resulted in the establishment of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first Black labor union in the US, in 1925.
Black women have always been the backbone of Black liberation. Few brotherhoods have existed without a sisterhood to give them strength. Forget being demure. We need to ride for each other.