ABSTRACT
Asa Philip Randolph (1889-1979) was born in Florida of working-class parents-his father a tailor, as well as an ordained minister in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, his mother a seamstress. A voracious reader, Randolph was profoundly influenced by W. E. B. Du Bois, whose The Souls of Black Folk propelled him toward the struggle for black equality.
