A. (Asa) Philip Randolph was a prominent African American civil rights leader and labor activist who played a crucial role in the struggle for equality and workers’ rights in the United States. Randolph was born on April 15, 1889, in Crescent City, Florida, to Rev. James William Randolph, a tailor and minister, and Elizabeth Robinson Randolph, a seamstress. 

Randolph excelled academically early on and graduated as valedictorian from the Cookman Institute. Following his 1907 graduation he moved to New York City. Once in New York, Randolph began to focus on sociopolitical issues. He became a founder and co-editor of a magazine called The Messenger, which ran from 1917 to 1928.

Randolph first gained national attention in 1925 as the founder and leader of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP), a labor union for African American railway workers. His efforts to improve working conditions and secure better wages for these workers demonstrated his commitment to both racial and economic justice. After twelve years of work and the passing of the new federal labor legislation, the BSCP entered a collective bargaining agreement in 1937 with the Pullman Palace Car Company. This was a historic first for a predominantly African American labor union. 

Another of Randolph’s contributions came during World War II when he threatened a massive protest march on Washington, D.C., to protest racial discrimination in defense industries and the military. This threat eventually led President Franklin D. Roosevelt to issue Executive Order 8802, which prohibited racial discrimination in the defense industry in 1941. 

A. Philip Randolph continued to be a leading voice for civil rights, notably a key leader of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963 alongside Bayard Rustin, prior to the NAACP involvement. This March is where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. 

In 1965, Rustin, Randolph, and the A. Philip Randolph Institute continued the struggle for social, political and economic justice for all working Americans. Randolph inspired the “Freedom Budget,” sometimes called the “Randolph Freedom budget,” which aimed to deal with the economic problems facing the Black community; it was published by the Randolph Institute in January 1967. 

Randolph remained a pivotal figure in the 20th-century American civil rights movement until his death on May 16, 1979.  His impact on the civil rights and labor movements remains significant and can still be felt today in both educational institutions and labor unions named after him and his legacy.