In commemorating our forebears during Black History Month, we recognize those who fought for workers’ rights and understood that economic justice does not exist without racial justice. Black workers have always been more than “allies” in labor movements — they were, and are, on the front lines.
Southern Black workers have a long record of forming unions to press their demands for justice — not just to combat exploitation but to actualize democracy. Today, with so many U.S. workers, and Black workers in particular, feeling like they do not have the opportunity to succeed, we once again need to confront our challenges and build power at work as we have in the past.
Many of the most influential leaders in Black history played critical roles in the labor movement, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was killed while advocating for safety, fair wages and equal benefits for Black sanitation workers in Memphis. One of King’s mentors, A. Philip Randolph, was the president and founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the nation’s first major African-American-led labor union. The union took courageous actions amid violent repression from the Pullman Company and later directed the March on Washington movement to end employment discrimination in the defense industry.
