- Playing
- A Union That Made Black History
- From
- Dick Meister
This commentary explores the extraordinary history of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first union founded by black workers. Few organizations of any kind have done more to help African Americans win equal rights. The union worked closely with the NAACP in the 1930s, '40s and '50s in the drives against racial discrimination that laid the groundwork for the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
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Piece Description
This commentary explores the extraordinary history of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first union founded by black workers. Few organizations of any kind have done more to help African Americans win equal rights. The union worked closely with the NAACP in the 1930s, '40s and '50s in the drives against racial discrimination that laid the groundwork for the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
Broadcast History
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Transcript
There are many organizations we should honor during Black History Month .. . none of them more deserving than the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters ? a pioneering union that played a key role in the struggle of African Americans for equal rights.
The union, the first to be founded by African Americans, was involved deeply in political as well as economic activity .. joining with the NAACP to serve as the major political vehicle of African Americans from the late 1930s through the 1950s. Together, the organizations led the drives in those years against racial discrimination in employment, housing, education and other areas that laid the groundwork for the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
The need for a porters? union was painfully obvious. Sleeping car porters commonly worked 12 or more hours a day on the Pullman Company?s sleeping car coaches for less than $100 a month.. And...
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Timing and Cues
INTRO: Commentator Dick Meister remembers a union that helped lead the early struggles for racial equality.
OUTRO: Dick Meister is a veteran labor journalist. You can reach him through his website, www.dickmeister.com
