Philip Randolph: Organizer And Social Activist

A. Philip Randolph was a trailblazing leader, organizer and social activist who championed equitable labor rights for African-American communities during the 20th century. A. Philip Randolph was born Asa Philip Randolph on April 15, 1889, in Crescent City, Florida. He was the second son of James Randolph, a Methodist minister, and his wife, Elizabeth, both of whom were staunch supporters of equal rights for African Americans and general human rights. In 1891, the Randolph family moved to Jacksonville, Florida, where Asa would live for most of his youth, and where he would eventually attend the Cookman Institute, one of the first institutions of higher education for blacks in the country. After graduating from Cookman, in 1911 Randolph moved
In the early 1920s, he unsuccessfully ran for offices in New York State on the Socialist Party ticket. Randolph would become more convinced than ever that unions would be the best way for African Americans to improve their lot. During the 1940s, Randolph twice used mass protest as a means of influencing the policies of the federal government. Following the United States' entrance into World War II, he planned a march on Washington to protest discrimination in the war industry workforce. Randolph called off the march after President Franklin Roosevelt issued an executive order that banned racial discrimination at government defense factories and established the first Fair Employment Practices Committee. In 1963, Randolph was a principal organizer of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, during which he would speak to an integrated crowd of nearly 250,000 supporters. His wife Lucille having died not long before the march, he nonetheless shared the podium that day with Martin Luther King Jr., who delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Randolph and King were among the handful of civil rights leaders to meet with President John F. Kennedy after the march. With Kennedy discussing the potential Congressional push needed to strengthen the civil rights bill, Randolph told him, "It’s going to be a crusade then. And I think that nobody can lead this crusade but you, Mr. President." Suffering from a heart condition and high blood pressure, Randolph resigned from his more than 40-year tenure as president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in 1968. He also retired from public life. After being mugged by three assailants, he moved from Harlem to New York City's Chelsea neighborhood. Never having been one to be concerned with material acquisitions or the ownership of property, Randolph spent the next few years writing his autobiography until his health worsened, forcing