(here, 1963) was major union leader and NNC member The foundation of the National Negro Congress is therefore a result and a product of resistance used by the oppressed to confront the national government. Self-determination was a concept that was used as agency for protection against racism as explained in the purpose during the first National Negro Congress in February 1936: "The magnitude, complexity, and danger of the Negro's present condition demands the mobilization of overwhelming mass pressure and force, which can only be achieve through the agency of a National Negro Congress ." Analyzing the current conditions of their experience in the United States allowed African Americans to realize the failings of government institutions. The main leader,
A. Philip Randolph, was instrumental in gathering not only socialists and communists but was able to organize massive popular participation by African Americans. By struggling against not only racism but capitalism, the leadership under Randolph was able to forge relationships with white workers and intellectuals. Bridging race gaps among black and white workers, the notion of segregation was often challenged. Issues such as class was a way for ethnic groups to bridge some differences; what was at stake was the root of the economic and political turmoil they were placed in: capital and capitalism. But in order to cultivate change within the workforce,
A. Philip Randolph had to cultivate change through the regulations of the National Negro Congress: "As part of its attempt to bring blacks into the labor movement, the Congress became a leading force for ending the racial restrictions on membership in many unions. In 1934, A. Philip Randolph had urged delegates at the American Federation of Labor convention to order 'the elimination of the color clause and pledge from the constitution and rituals of all trade and industrial unions' and the expulsion of all unions which maintained 'said color bar.'"
Race relations among workers The communists believed that working cooperatively could help black and white workers ease racial tensions, rather than competing against each other, and if unification were to ever happen, it would be accomplished through the struggle of black and white workers. In addition to the racial division that existed among larger, powerful union was the wage black workers were earning in contrast to the white workers. For example, in the book
the National Negro Congress: A Reassessment by Lawrence S. Wittner, the author explains the miserable conditions suffered by African-Americans workers and their generally low wages. Blacks had a crucial position in the emerging struggle, as well as a vital stake in it. In 1936, there were perhaps as many as 85,000 Negro steelworkers- 20 per cent of the laborers and 6 per cents of the operators in the industry. Restricted to the worst jobs, with intense heat and noxious gases, they also encountered a wide network of racially discriminatory differential – averaged $3.60 per day. Through the commodification of black workers, industry and unions treated them as bodies that produce profit. The exclusion of black workers from white-dominated unions was used to dehumanize black workers. The National Negro Congress validated the struggle and existence of Black Americans in the United States. Noticing that the National Negro Congress was drifting into left-wing sectionalism, Randolph reinforced the tradition of prioritizing the black community first above organizations and ideologies: "sensing the drift of the Congress toward left-wing sectarianism, A. Philip Randolph fought back in behalf of its traditional aims of racial integrity and black unity ... He rejected Congress affiliation with both major parties, the Communist Party, the Socialist Party and with the Soviet Union: none, he noted, placed the interests of Negroes first". The interests of numerous radical parties were not founded in the principles of race. As a matter of fact, they only saw class struggle as a problem for Americans. The negligence of race further deprived many African-Americans from amplifying their voice about their experience in the labor-work force. It was something that can be seen as divisive because generally black workers who belonged, if not lower than a poor working-class man, to the working class that is considered diversified among its members. Moreover, Randolph believed that if the National Negro Congress were to ever be in the dependency of radical and revolutionary party, it should never be subjugated or controlled by the party for their own advantage: "Appealing to the Congress, he asked for a leadership that would be 'free from intimidation, manipulation or subordination ... a leadership which is uncontrolled and responsible to no one but the Negro people." With no tying to any political affiliation, Randolph wanted the National Negro Congress to be free from any biased decision regarding the African-American struggle. By being independent from any political party, he is creating space of grassroots organizing. The interest of the people should come from the people themselves and that is what is Randolph is imploring. The very act of defiance is resisting. Although he advocated for the integration of black workers to the AFL-CIO, Randolph wanted the National Negro Congress to be a separate entity; a space where black workers from the AFL-CIO can use for their affirmation of their struggle as a black working class.
Support for African-Americans in her 1939 concert at the Lincoln Memorial In 1939, the
Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) refused permission for
Marian Anderson to sing to an integrated audience in their
Constitution Hall. At the time, Washington, D.C., was a segregated city and black patrons were upset that they had to sit at the back of Constitution Hall. Constitution Hall also did not have the segregated public bathrooms required by DC law at the time for such events. The
District of Columbia Board of Education also declined a request to use the auditorium of a white public high school. In 1940,
Paul Robeson learned the patriotic song "Chee Lai!" ("Arise!" also known as the
March of the Volunteers) from the Chinese progressive activist,
Liu Liangmo. Robeson premiered the song at a large concert in New York City's
Lewisohn Stadium Its 3-
disc album included a booklet whose preface was written by
Soong Ching-ling, widow of
Sun Yat-sen, Robeson gave further performances at benefits for the
China Aid Council and
United China Relief at their sold-out concert at Washington's
Uline Arena on April 24, 1941. The
Washington Committee for Aid to China had booked
Constitution Hall but had been blocked by the
Daughters of the American Revolution owing to Robeson's race. The indignation was great enough that
President Roosevelt's wife
Eleanor and
Hu Shih, the Chinese ambassador, joined as sponsors. However, when the organizers offered tickets on generous terms to the National Negro Congress to help fill the larger venue, these sponsors withdrew, in objection to the NNC's Communist ties. Details of the withdrawal of support may be found in the testimony of a
House Un-American Activities Committee informant. In 1942,
Doris Miller received recognition as one of the "first US heroes of World War II," commended by a letter signed by US
Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox on April 1, and the next day,
CBS Radio broadcast an episode of the series
They Live Forever, which dramatized Miller's actions. The
All-Southern Negro Youth Conference launched a signature campaign on April 17–19. On May 10, the National Negro Congress denounced Knox's recommendation against awarding Miller the Medal of Honor. (On May 11, President Roosevelt approved the
Navy Cross for Miller.) In 1944,
Aubrey Pankey performed a concert at
Carnegie Hall in New York City produced by the National Negro Congress in 1944. His encores that evening included a march popular with
Soviet troops and
Die Moorsoldaten, a song of the victims of the
Nazi concentration camps. In 1946, the National Negro Congress set up picket lines in theaters in the big cities where the film played, with its protesters holding signs that read "
Song of the South is an insult to the Negro people" and, lampooning "Jingle Bells", chanted: "Disney tells, Disney tells/lies about the South." On April 2, 1947, a group of protesters marched around
Paramount Theatre (Oakland, California) with picket signs reading, "We want films on Democracy not Slavery" and "Don't prejudice children's minds with films like this". Jewish newspaper ''B'nai B'rith Messenger'' of Los Angeles considered the film to be "tall[ying] with the reputation that Disney is making for himself as an arch-reactionary". ==Members==