From teachers to truck drivers, there’s a ton of jobs out there. A man named A. Philip Randolph worked to make sure that everyone had the chance to get a good job and fair pay.
Randolph was born on April 15, 1889, in Crescent City, Florida. He grew up in a family that valued learning. His father was a preacher. Randolph went to a school called the Cookman Institute in Jacksonville, Florida. It was one of the first schools in Florida to teach only Black students.
Randolph moved to New York City in 1911. He lived in a neighborhood called Harlem. Randolph worked in an apartment building. He also studied at the City College of New York. In school, Randolph learned about fair work and equal rights.
Then, in 1925, Randolph made a major move. He started the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP). The represented Black people who worked on trains. These workers, called porters, were paid very little. They worked long hours. Together in the union, the employees had more power. They won higher pay and shorter hours.
The BSCP was the first-ever labor union for Black people. Zebulon Miletsky is a historian. “A lot of the labor unions, unfortunately, African Americans,” Miletsky told News-O-Matic. “They talked about equality and brotherhood, but often didn’t include Black people.”
Randolph became a leader in the . He helped organize the March on Washington in 1963. At that event, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. The march helped pave the way for a law called the Civil Rights Act. That law made illegal.
Later, Randolph founded the A. Philip Randolph Institute. The group’s goals are to fight and push for workers’ rights.
Randolph died in 1979 at the age of 90. But people can still learn from his words. “Freedom and must be struggled for,” Randolph once said. “Freedom is never granted,” he added. “It is won.”
By Ryan Cramer
Updated January 31, 2025, 5:00 P.M. (ET)
