A. Phillip Randolph, BOMA Minute

On this day April 15, 1889 A. Phillip Randolph was born in Crescent City, Florida. He formed a small union of elevator operators while attending The Collage of New York City. Mr. Randolph later became the principle organizer of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. In 1925 he gathered the brothers together and explained how much of a commodity they were to the U.S. Railway system and how much more valuable they would be as an organized union.

His was the first union of predominantly Black workers to be granted a charter by the American Federation of Labor. He wrestled with the Pullman Company for ten years before he won recognition as the porters bargaining agent. He convinced the company that the white folks train ride would not be as comfortable without the Pullman Porters and he was instrumental in persuading President Franklin D. Roosevelt to set up the Fair Employment Practices Committee. In 1957 A. Phillip Randolph was elected a vice president of the AFL/CIO. He was also one of the principle organizers of the historic 1963 March on Washington along side Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He lived to be 90 years old.

This has been a Breath of My Ancestors Minute brought to you by the Institute of Radical Reconciliation… #WeMustNeverForget