(April 15, 1889-May 16, 1979)
Born in Crescent City, Florida
Birth name was Asa Philip Randolph
Labor and civil rights leader
Founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP, 1925)
AFL-CIO Vice President (1955-66)
With Martin Luther King Jr. and Bayard Rustin, organized the March on Washington (August 28, 1963)
Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1964)

He planned to become an actor until his parents objected.
He joined Eugene V. Debs' socialist party.
He ran unsuccessfully for comptroller of New York on the socialist ticket.
He said reading Marx was 'like finally running into an idea which gives you your outlook on life.'

He was valedictorian of his class at the Cookman Institute.
He advocated non-violence.
He organized the first successful black union.
His call for a march on Washington during World War II prompted FDR to issue an executive order banning discrimination in defense industries.
He led the post-war campaign that convinced Truman to desegregate the armed forces.
Martin Luther King, Jr. called him 'the conscience of the labor movement' and 'truly the dean of Negro leaders.'

Credit: C. Fishel

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