Between World War I and World War II, African Americans' quest for
civil rights took on a more aggressive character as a new group of
black activists challenged the politics of civility traditionally
embraced by old-guard leaders in favor of a more forceful protest
strategy. Beth Tompkins Bates traces the rise of this new protest
politics--which was grounded in making demands and backing them up
with collective action--by focusing on the struggle of the
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) to form a union in
Chicago, headquarters of the Pullman Company.
Bates shows how the BSCP overcame initial opposition from most of
Chicago's black leaders by linking its union message with the
broader social movement for racial equality. As members of BSCP
protest networks mobilized the black community around the quest for
manhood rights and economic freedom, they broke down resistance to
organized labor even as they expanded the boundaries of citizenship
to include equal economic opportunity. By the mid-1930s, BSCP
protest networks gained platforms at the national level, fusing
Brotherhood activities first with those of the National Negro
Congress and later with the March on Washington Movement. Lessons
learned during this era guided the next generation of activists,
who carried the black freedom struggle forward after World War
II.