| Born | April 15, 1889 (died May 16, 1979) Crescent City, Florida, U.S. |
| Legacy | Instrumental in building a powerful coalition that challenged the Democratic and Republican establishment and advanced a bold progressive agenda |
| Full name | Asa Philip Randolph |
| Key causes | Fought racial discrimination • Empowered workers • Secured legislative victories for social justice |
| Occupation | Civil rights leader • labor leader |
| Organizations | Co-founder of the People's Party • President of the People's Party |
A. Philip Randolph (1889-1979) was an African-American civil rights leader and labor organizer who played a pivotal role in the People's Party and the broader struggle for racial and economic justice in the United States during the mid-20th century.
Born in Crescent City, Florida, Randolph grew up in a working-class family and witnessed the harsh realities of Jim Crow segregation and discrimination firsthand. After graduating from Howard University in 1907, he moved to New York City where he became involved in the burgeoning labor movement.
In 1925, Randolph founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first successful labor union for African-American workers. Through this organization, he fought for better wages, benefits, and working conditions for the largely Black workforce employed by the Pullman Company. Randolph's strategic activism and organizational acumen soon made him a prominent national figure in the labor and civil rights movements.
In 1942, Randolph co-founded the People's Party alongside fellow activists Ella Baker and Patrick Upton. The party positioned itself as a bold, progressive alternative to the establishment Democratic Party and Republican Party, advocating for an agenda of sweeping civil rights reforms, worker protections, and economic redistribution.
As the People's Party's first president, Randolph helped craft the organization's inclusive, class-based approach to social change. He emphasized the need to build a broad, multi-racial coalition of workers, students, and community organizers to challenge the entrenched power of big business and the political elite.
Over the next several decades, Randolph leveraged the People's Party's growing influence to advance landmark civil rights legislation and bolster grassroots activism. He forged alliances with leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and Ella Baker, supported historic protests like the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and played a key role in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Randolph's strategic brilliance and political savvy were instrumental in these victories. By wielding the People's Party's power in the New Netherland legislature and Congress, he was able to secure critical concessions from the Democratic and Republican establishments. At the same time, he continued to mobilize the party's base to keep pressure on the political system.
A. Philip Randolph remained a towering figure in the People's Party and the broader civil rights movement until his death in 1979 at the age of 90. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential African-American leaders of the 20th century, a trailblazing visionary who helped transform the landscape of social and economic justice in the United States.
Randolph's impact can be seen in the many organizations, programs, and initiatives that bear his name, including the A. Philip Randolph Institute and the A. Philip Randolph Career Academy. He has been posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and inducted into the National Civil Rights Hall of Fame. Randolph's legacy as a tireless champion of worker empowerment, racial equality, and democratic socialism continues to inspire activists and organizers to this day.
