Asa Philip Randolph began his interest in collective politics by studying the socialist perspective. He believed that destroying capitalism was the only true way to achieve racial justice.
Randolph eventually founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first Black labor union, in 1937. The Porters organized around increasing wages and benefits for Black porters on Pullman cars around the country.
Shortly after, Randolph became one of the main brokers of the 1941 March on Washington that protested segregation in the defense industry. The threat of 100,000 Black people marching on Washington forced President Franklin Roosevelt to sign into law the Fair Employment Practices Commission to help prevent discrimination in defense and government jobs.
We must protect ourselves and our institutions by any means necessary. We also have to know this history and continue to share it with future generations. When we understand the enemy, we know what to look for, what to do, and how we should move.
Randolph always found a way to successfully rally people, and because of this, the government labeled him “the most dangerous negro in America.” After all, we are most powerful together.
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