Despite his humble Florida upbringing, A. Philip Randolph was a brilliant student from a young age whose dignity, well-spoken demeanor, and self-restraint defined him. In adulthood, he moved to Harlem, where, influenced by his adherence to Marxist philosophy, he became a labor organizer. Working tirelessly on behalf of Black workers in the railway car service industry, he organized and led the Brotherhood of the Sleeping Car Porters, through which efforts he achieved a reduction in the number of monthly work-hours and several other concessions. As a Civil Rights Movement activist, he was instrumental in convincing President Harry Truman to issue Order 9981 in 1948, which ended segregation in the US Armed Forces.

One of his followers, Bayard Rustin, became his protégé in the Civil Rights Movement, as well as a lifelong friend. The same staunch nonviolent resistance that Randolph employed also characterized Rustin’s life, although his homosexuality and immoderate temper often resulted in imprisonment and other public disgrace. When Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. eventually turned his back on Rustin for his sexuality, Randolph adamantly stood by him. Randolph and Rustin were both in the organizing leadership of the March on Washington, at which Reverend King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech.