Title
Dept/ Agency: Offices of Municipal Council/City Clerk
Action: ( ) Ratifying (X) Authorizing ( ) Amending
Type of Service: Ceremonial Street Designation
Honoree: A. Philip Randolph
Date(s): Monday, April 15, 2024
Official Street Name(s): Intersection on Market Street and Raymond Plaza
Ceremonial Intersection Name: A. Philip Randolph Plaza
Sponsor: Council Member, C. Lawrence Crump
Additional Information:
body
WHEREAS, Ordinance 6PSF-f, adopted on May 20, 2015, authorizes the designation of an intersection, etc. for honorary and ceremonial purposes; and
WHEREAS, Asa Philip Randolph, is recognized as one of the most influential civil rights and American labor movement activists in the 20th Century and considered the “dean of Negro leaders” by civil rights icon, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he was born April 15, 1889 in Crescent City, Florida; and
WHEREAS, A. Philip Randolph, as he was affectionately known, began organizing African-American workers’ rights in the early 1920’s, achieved national acclaim in 1925 when he organized and became president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, America’s first successful African-American-led labor union, which arguably became the nation‘s most influential African-American labor union through the 1950’s. An early proponent of Mahtma Ghandi’s non-violence strategies, his threatened use of marches and strikes led to the dismantling and changes in racist and discriminatory American labor practices in the military, war industries, federal agencies and labor unions; and
WHEREAS, throughout the 1950’s and 60’s, he was not only a leading voice in the struggle for freedom and equality for African-Americans, but formed important alliances with Jewish groups, liberal white organizations and other labor movement organizations seeking equality and fairness. He envisioned the first march on Washington during the 1940’s and later watched it come into fruition with the famous 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, in coordination with Bayard Rustin and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whom he had earlier mentored on non-violence tactics leading to the Montgomery Bus Boycott; and
WHEREAS, A. Philip Randolph’s recognition, achievements and impact as a leading figure in America’s Labor and Civil Rights Movement is noted by his numerous accolades and awards including his induction into the U.S Department of Labor Hall of Honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the establishment of numerous scholarships, statues, street renaming in his honor and the establishment of the A. Philip Randolph Institute to name a few; and
WHEREAS, A. Philip Randolph’s was a true American hero whose accomplishments, courage and achievements during America’s Jim Crow era is exemplary and worthy of recognition.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, THAT:
1. The Municipal Council does hereby authorize the honorary and ceremonial renaming of the intersection of Market Street and Raymond Plaza as “A. Philip Randolph Plaza”.
2. The official name of the said streets shall remain Market Street and Raymond Plaza in its entirety.
STATEMENT
This Resolution authorizes the naming of the intersection of Market Street and Raymond Plaza as “A. Philip Randolph Plaza”, for honorary and ceremonial purposes.