On this day in 1889, 130 years ago, one of the stalwart dynamic leaders of the black community was born, Asa Phillip Randolph. Mr. Randolph was one of the greatest labor organizers in the history of the United States. Where would our black communities be had it been not for Asa Phillip Randolph, who founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters? Not only for the enormous economic benefit derived by the members of the sleeping car porters union but also for the civil rights benefits secured for the black community during the civil rights struggle. Yes, without a doubt the impact of the Brotherhood of the Sleeping Car Porters was so significant. Can you imagine how the Montgomery Bus Boycott would've suffered had not the local leadership of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters not actively involved themselves under the leadership of E.D. Nixon? Can you also imagine how ill-informed the black southern populace would have remained had not those same black sleeping car porters not delivered the Chicago Defender, Baltimore Afro-American, and the Pittsburgh Courier to southern states by way of the railways? Asa Phillip Randolph demanded that black Americans being able to be employed in defense plans during World War Two.

As a matter of fact 22 years before the historic March for Jobs and Freedom on the Mall in Washington on August 28, 1963. Mr. Asa Phillip Randolph stood up for economic justice for black Americans by standing down President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and United States Congress segregationist's policies related to hiring black Americans to work in defense plants. Asa Phillip Randolph demanded that black Americans be hired to work in meaningful positions of employment in those defense plans funded with federal tax dollars. It was Mr. Randolph's idea to create a mass demonstration on the Mall in Washington DC in May 1941. If the hiring or I should say the lack of hiring of black Americans continued. So as a result of that proposed direct action proposed by Mr. Randolph, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802 which opened employment opportunities for black Americans to work in those military industrial plants as well as jobs in other federal agencies without the use of discriminatory practices that had previously denied them the right of employment.

Of course, Mr. Asa Phillip Randolph was actively involved in every facet of activity in the planning of the 1963 March for Jobs and Freedom. He also worked closely with other organization planning direct action in fighting the fight for Civil Rights. Asa Phillip Randolph was an American Hero whose chief aim was to ensure that every black American had the right to the pursuit of happiness as well as the rights protected by the US Constitution. So on this day 130 years after his birth, The Blackman Who Reads Aloud asks each and every member of the black community to thank God for the service, devotion, will, and determination that embodied Asa Philip Randolph.

Today's lesson on #joesmokethoughts revolves around the Supreme Court Decision Plessey vs. Ferguson which solidified the second class citizenship status of Americans of African Descent in the United States. The Supreme Court is one of the most powerful agencies in our country. The nine seats that comprise the court has exceptional importance because each seat is a lifetime appointment. Once nominated a justice on the Supreme Court cannot be removed unless that person is impeached by a majority count in the House of Representatives and 2/3 supermajority of the United States Senate. Otherwise, once nominated by the President and approved by a simple majority in the United States Senate, justices serve on the Supreme Court for as long as he/she wants until he/she dies. These members have the capacity to change the course or direction of this country. You need to analyze and review pivotal racial cases that the Supreme Court decided. The absolute worst case decided in 1858 was Roger Taney's courts ruling (Dred Scott Vs Sanford) that blacks in this country whether freed or slaves had no rights for which white people need respect or acknowledge. The Supreme Court ruled 1888 that the Civil Rights Act of 1871 was unconstitutional which basically made the Civil War Constitutional Amendments null and void in every southern state in the country.

The decision I am spending time discussing today on this video is the 1896 Plessey Vs Ferguson. This case impressed upon the country's citizens that racial separation between whites and blacks was not only constitutional but also desired by every aspect of American society. The decision put the final nails in the coffin of Black Reconstruction although Black Reconstruction actually was struck down politically in the Compromise of 1877. The Supreme Court has been the moral voice of this nation since the country's inception. Now we have those nine court seats being controlled by an Executive and Legislative Branch that is not people oriented in the 21st century. It is vital to understand the complexities of the Supreme Court as well as understanding three branches of government and how those branches provide a system of checks and balances to perform effectively. In a period of this country's history when racists implemented policies the court fed the populace decisions based on those philosophies. That is why we have historical judicial decisions like Plessey, Scott, the 1888 decision rulings because of the fact that judges nominated to the court reflected the image of the decision-makers in the White House and the Senate chambers. How is today's Supreme Court going to be reflected in history when you have leaders like Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump responsible for directing the nomination process?