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A. Phillip Randolph Instituteby Prometheus 6
October 28, 2003 - 4:07pm. on Politics This was going to be a comment, but I decided I want it to have a higher profile. The flyer Republicans used to recruit its poll watchers in Kentucky refers to the A. Phillip Randolph Institute as "the black militant division of the AFL-CIO and funded in part by the DNC." Pure race-card politics, and the right wingers out there that constantly claim Democrats play the race card need to repudiate this. But this should not be taken as an implication that progressives should back away from the Institute. People are always "sending messages," so sometimes I feel the need to counter what they will try to extract as a "message" from a statement that means no more than what is said. Back when I started Prometheus 6, the motto under the banner read, "...freedom is never a final act, but a continuing evolving process to higher and higher levels of human, social, economic, political and religious relationships." - A. Philip Randolph
Who can disagree with that?If you don't know about A. Philip Randolph, then you're missing a significant chunk of knowledge about Black people, the labor movement and the UsofA in general. Start with Nathan Newman's MLK Day post and follow the links within. The Institute, like Randolph himself, is something to be proud of. 1965 The year 1,000 black schoolchildren were arrested for attempting to march in front of an Alabama county courthouse. The year 25,000 people joined the Selma-to-Montgomery Freedom March. The year the Voting Rights Act removed barriers preventing blacks from voting.
1965 Also was the year the A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI), a national organization of black trade unionists, was founded. APRI's mission, from our founding to the present, has been to fight for racial equality and economic justice. Our role is unique we work with black trade unionists, the people best suited to serve as a bridge between labor and the black community. APRI spearheads what we term the "Black-Labor Alliance." We build black community support for the trade union movement, and convey to labor the needs and concerns of black Americans.With more than 150 chapters in 36 states, APRI members are involved in political and community education, lobbying, legislative action and labor support activities. Now, there's a certain class of people who will see this as the very definition of Black militancy. The kind of person that makes a great Republican poll watcher. But if they actually understood the organization's program maybe it would give them pause. Maybe. Let's take a look at the Institute's agenda and see how it would affect white folks if implemented exactly as they request: How do we go about building an economically just and racially equal society?
We seek structural changes through the American democratic process. From courthouse to state house to the White House, APRI members actively promote social, economic, labor, political and legislative issues. We support:
What, exactly, is in this that even a white supremacist should object to…I mean outside the obvious? What is in here that is not beneficial to EVERYONE? What really angers me is that Black civil rights organizations fairly contort themselves to be inclusive of all people. They never suggest anything that isn't universally beneficial. And they are smeared by people who (I am convinced) know better. Trackback URL for this post:http://www.prometheus6.org/trackback/2105
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