A. Philip Randolph: A Life in the VanguardRowman & Littlefield, 2007 - 169 pages Before the emergence of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., there were several key leaders who fought for civil rights in the United States. Among them was A. Philip Randolph, who perhaps best embodied the hopes, ideals, and aspirations of black Americans. Born in the South at the start of the Jim Crow era, Randolph was by his thirtieth birthday a prime mover in the movement to expand civil, social, and economic rights in America. A Socialist and a radical, Randolph devoted his life to energizing the black masses into collective action. He successfully organized the all-black Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and led the March on Washington Movement during the Second World War. In this engaging new book, historian Andrew E. Kersten explores Randolph's significant influences and accomplishments as both a labor and civil rights leader. Kersten pays particular attention to Randolph's political philosophy, his involvement in the labor and civil rights movements, and his dedication to improving the lives of American workers. |
Contents
From Preacher Son to Socialist Radical Randolphs Formative Years in Florida and New York City | 1 |
A Union Revolution The Creation of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters | 25 |
When Negroes Dont March A Philip Randolph and the Power of Protest Politics During World War II | 47 |
Unfinished Business Randolphs Civil Rights Struggles During the Cold War | 69 |
The 1963 March on Washington Randolphs Finest Hour | 91 |
Afterword | 115 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
activists AFL-CIO African Americans Asa Philip Randolph Bayard Rustin black Americans black workers Bois Brotherhood of Sleeping BSCP called Chicago civil rights leaders civil rights movement color Committee communists conference Congress democracy dolph economic Executive Order 8802 Executive Order 9980 Fair Employment Practice federal government FEPC fight Freedom Budget Garvey Harlem issue James Jim Crow Johnson Kennedy labor movement Let the Negro lives Lucille March on Washington Meany Messenger military MOWM NAACP Negro masses speak nonviolent organization Philip Randolph Institute Pittsburgh Courier political President Roosevelt presidential Press Pullman Company Pullman porters race racial discrimination racism radical Randolph and Owen Randolph oral history reform refused Republican Reverend Roy Wilkins segregated Senate Sleeping Car Sleeping Car Porters social socialist South strike struggle tion Truman United University vanguard Vann vote wages wanted Webster White House World York City