A. Philip Randolph was one of the most influential architects of both the labor and civil rights movements in America, a man who understood that economic equality and racial justice were inseparable. Through decades of fearless organizing, he built a foundation that empowered working-class Black Americans and helped spark one of the most defining moments in U.S. history: the March on Washington.

Born in 1889 in Crescent City, Florida, Randolph was raised by parents who instilled in him a deep sense of dignity and justice. After studying in New York, he became a leading voice for labor rights, advocating for fair wages, humane working conditions, and union representation for Black workers who had long been exploited and excluded from organized labor movements.

In 1925, Randolph founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first major African American labor union in the United States. The group represented thousands of porters employed by the Pullman Company, one of the largest private employers of Black men at the time. After more than a decade of organizing and resistance, the union won a groundbreaking contract in 1937, a major victory that not only improved wages and working conditions but also proved that Black workers could wield real power through unity and persistence.

Randolph’s activism didn’t stop there. During World War II, he proposed a March on Washington Movement to protest racial discrimination in defense industries and the military. His pressure led President Franklin D. Roosevelt to issue Executive Order 8802, banning racial discrimination in defense jobs, one of the earliest federal actions against segregation.

Two decades later, his vision became reality when he helped organize the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech. The march remains a landmark in the fight for civil and economic rights, and Randolph’s leadership made it possible.

A. Philip Randolph believed that freedom without economic justice was incomplete. His life’s work bridged the gap between civil rights and labor rights, inspiring generations of activists, from Dr. King to modern labor organizers, to fight for both equality and opportunity.

When he passed away in 1979, he left behind a legacy of disciplined activism and moral clarity that continues to guide movements for social and economic justice today.