On this day in Labor History the year was 1963.
That was the day one of the most important stands for justice and equality took place in United States history.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream Speech” to a quarter-million people in Washington D.C.
But did you know that one of the main organizers for the march was a man by the name of Bayard Rustin?
Rustin is often left out of the history books because he was gay and because of earlier communist affiliations.
He was born in 1912, and raised in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
He was raised in the Quaker tradition, and his commitment to peaceful, non-violent protest continued into the Civil Rights Movement.
Rustin joined the Young Communists League in the 1930s, a time when Communist organizers were some of the few people actively speaking out about racial injustice in the United States.
After he left the YCL, Rustin spent a brief time as the youth organizer for a March on Washington planned in the 1940s.
This movement was led by one, A. Philip Randolph.
The planned march was aimed at putting pressure on President Franklin D. Roosevelt to desegregate work at industries with federal wartime manufacturing contracts.
When President Roosevelt agreed to issue an order desegregating these jobs, the planned march was called off.
But the idea for the march lived on, and became a reality during the Civil Rights Movement.
Rustin went on to work in the labor movement.
He became the founder and first director of the AFL-CIO’s A. Philip Randolph Institute, which focuses on tearing down the walls of discrimination in work places and within the labor movement
June 8 - Tragedy in the Butte Mines
June 7 - Boston Carmen Organize
June 6 - Raid at Rocky Flats
June 5 - The Big One
June 4 - Union Busting Thugs Assault Local Leaders
June 3 - Victory at Auto-Lite Paves the Way
June 2 - Wartime Strike Defies Presidential Seizure
June 1 - Standing Up by Sitting Down
May 31 - The 1921 Tulsa Race Riot
May 30 - The Memorial Day Massacre
May 29 - The Little Steel Strike Revs Up
May 28 - The 54th Massachusetts
May 27 - Rubber Workers Push Back Against War Profiteering
May 26 - SWOC Strikes Little Steel
May 25 - Striking Teamsters Triumph
May 24 - Operation Humanity Marching for Dignity
May 23 - The Battle of Toledo
May 22 - The Battle of Deputies’ Run
May 21 - Striking to Save Their Union
May 20 - Relief Workers Sit Down in Vancouver
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Navigating Life After 40
Teaching Learning Leading K-12
Regenerative Skills
The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast
The Mel Robbins Podcast