A Journal of Research in Africana Studies
Freedom: Volume 3
Labor as Liberation: The Pullman Porters and the Black Intellectual Legacy Model
By Rashid Faisal
Department Chair and Associate Professor, College of Urban Education, Davenport UniversityPublished in Freedom: Volume 3
Keywords
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, A. Philip Randolph, Carter G. Woodson, Black labor history, Civil Rights Movement, Black intellectual tradition
Abstract
As the United States celebrates the hundredth anniversary of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (1925–2025), this article revisits the legacy of the Pullman Porters through the framework of the Black Intellectual Legacy Model (BILM)—a culturally relevant approach based on the educational philosophy of Dr. Carter G. Woodson, founder of Negro History Week and a key figure in culturally responsive/relevant teaching.
Under the prophetic leadership of A. Philip Randolph, who famously declared “fight or be slaves,” the Pullman Porters transformed Black labor into an act of resistance and enlightenment, organizing the first all-Black labor union to secure a collective bargaining agreement with a major American corporation. Their efforts set a model for Black labor organizing and laid a moral and structural foundation for the Civil Rights Movement.
Guided by self-discipline, collective unity, racial pride, dignity, and education, the porters used their work as a platform for liberation. They invested their wages and tips in their children’s and relatives’ education, many of whom attended historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and went on to become teachers, ministers, lawyers, professors, college presidents, doctors, and civic leaders. This intergenerational commitment to education fueled the growth of the Black middle class and fulfilled Woodson’s vision of learning as both empowerment and cultural preservation.
Through the Black Intellectual Legacy Model, this article presents the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters as a case study of how knowledge, culture, and collective agency turn labor into liberation. Their story highlights the power of education, individual and collective action, organization, and self-determination in shaping a more just, self-aware, and empowered Black America.