By D. Kevin McNeir
Special to the AFRO
In 1925, labor organizer and civil rights activist A. Philip Randolph was invited to be the first president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and Maids. It was the first Black union to receive a charter in the American Federation of Labor. Many scholars cite the important role that the Pullman porters played in the early 20th century. The porters provided one of the first viable means by which Black workers could ascend to the middle class.
Now, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Pullman porters, the nation’s premier organization for the study of Black life and history, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), has chosen as its 2025 theme, “African Americans and Labor.”
As noted on ASALH’s website, the theme is intended “to encourage broad reflections on intersections between Black people’s work and their workplaces in all their iterations and key moments in Black history and culture.”
For Randolph, who was a member of the Socialist Party, securing economic justice and full and equal rights for Black Americans remained a priority. The Pullman porters often served as the voice of reason and criticism. As unions increased in size and power, many maintained discriminatory practices and policies.
Dr. Lionel Kimble Jr., associate professor of history and Africana studies at Chicago State University, believes Black Americans have yet to recognize the full scope of Randolph’s intellectual prowess and contributions to improving their economic status.
“We tend to underestimate his abilities, his ingenuity and the important role he played throughout the 20th century in our [Black people’s] fight against discrimination in all of its many forms,” Kimble said. “Randolph often criticized the Black middle class and chose to give his voice and support to the Black working class and their interests.
“He was successful in numerous negotiations on behalf of the Pullman porters because he was not a porter but rather the leader. He did not have to be concerned with supporting views that the white owners held. But it took several efforts before the Pullman porters were formally established because the owners sent out spies who reported back to management. In most cases, Pullman porters who had been identified as leaders of their cause were terminated,” Kimble said.
Pullman porters wore many hats
In a collection of essays that chronicles the development of the Black Press, “The African American Newspaper: Voices of Freedom” by Patrick S. Washburn, another historian, Martin Terrell, notes that the Pullman porters not only traveled across America, seeing things that most African Americans could not even imagine or hope to experience, but their wages were higher than those of other working-class Black workers.
Kimble said the Pullman porters became a force to be reckoned with.
“During the 1930s, a lot of the progressive, left-leaning unions removed themselves from the AFL, but the Brotherhood remained,” Kimble said. “Randolph believed that to effectively fight discrimination, they needed to stay and hold them accountable for the discriminatory practices lodged against Blacks.”
Kimble agrees with Terrell when considering the economic power that the Pullman porters eventually achieved.
“The porters provided access to and the foundation for the development of the Black middle class,” Kimble said. “So, while they were working-class individuals, they could do more in support of their communities because their wages were higher than their contemporaries.”
Randolph would later use his organizing tactics while developing a blueprint for the first March on Washington. The march began to take shape around 1940. It was slated for 1941 but was eventually aborted. However, Randolph secured several concessions from President Franklin D. Roosevelt. These included changes in policies and the expansion of government agencies that secured greater employment opportunities for Black workers.
Lessons we can learn and follow
Kimble said there are at least three lessons that can be taken from Randolph. With only slight revisions, the lessons of the past can be used by today’s grassroots organizations as they continue the decades-old battle against discrimination.
“First, we have to go back to organizing at the community level.The March on Washington was successful because Randolph galvanized people from across the country. They then returned to their own communities, where they continued to advocate for real changes,” said Kimble.“Second, Blacks should take an unbiased look at organized labor and consider forging alliances between union workers and civil rights activists.”
Kimble said “third, Blacks must be vigilant against buying into news sources that allow news to be disseminated without requiring that information be verified for truth and accuracy. The Pullman porters distributed the AFRO and other Black press to tens of thousands of people in the South, many of whom were illiterate. This ensured people knew what was happening to Blacks all along the various routes some would travel during the Great Migration.”
While Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is routinely referred to as the father of the modern civil rights movement, Kimble said Randolph deserves that title.
“Randolph was there leading the charge in the ’20s and ’30s and ’40s,” Kimble said. “He introduced Americans to Dr. King during the March on Washington. He laid the foundation for Black organized labor. I would even go so far as to say that if there had never been Randolph at the helm, I doubt that Dr. King would have been as successful as he was.”
Lucander took a different perspective in summarizing Randolph’s contributions to the civil rights movement.
“Randolph envisioned the 1963 March—it quite literally was his idea,” Lucander said. “And while he canceled a march planned for 1941, he did three smaller marches in the 1950s. By smaller, I mean 10,000-plus people came out, including leaders like Jackie Robinson and Dr. King. But the media didn’t give it much attention. However, Randolph’s idea that an interest group marches on Washington to express its views is totally normal now, and that traces back to Randolph.”
Still, the question remains: Why isn’t Randolph better known and celebrated within the Black community?
Lucander believes he has an answer.
“Randolph was once a household name for generations of African Americans, but he has fallen out of most people’s consciousness,” Lucander said. “Part of it is persona—he had a stuffy, formal demeanor, and times have changed. Part of it is politics—he’s a democratic socialist, and this country has a tough time wrapping its head around that concept. And part of it is the times—he’s a union man to the core, and the labor movement isn’t what it used to be.”
