Metro Detroit A. Philip Randolph Institute

Detroit, MI

Welcome to our site. We will start with a little history of our founders and organization . At the bottom of this page you will find links to membership applications and our national website and Facebook pages along with local and issue based pages.

A. PHILIP RANDOLPH INSTITUTE

A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin, APRI's co-founders, the fight for workers' rights and civil rights were inseparable. Randolph (1889-1979) was the greatest black labor leader in American in history and the father of the modern American civil rights movement. Rustin(1912-1987), a leading civil rights and labor activist and strategist, was the chief organizer of the historic 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and Randolph's greatest protege.

Randolph and Rustin forged an alliance between the civil rights movement and the labor movement. They recognized that blacks and working people of all colors share the same goals: political and social freedom and economic justice. This Black-Labor Alliance helped the civil rights movement achieve one of its greatest victories - passage of the Voting Rights Act, which removed the last remaining legal barriers to broad black political participation. Inspired by this success, Randolph and Rustin founded the A. Philip Randolph Institute in 1965 to continue the struggle for social, political and economic justice for all working Americans.

APRI is an organization of Black Trade Unionists to fight for racial equality and economic justice. Today, APRI is led by president Clayola Brown whose vision and energy has sparked a new beginning for our organization and the movement as a whole.

Objectives

Consistent with the National APRI’s objectives are Metro Detroit's APRI’s objectives, as follows:

A. The encouragement and expansion of black political activity at the state, local and national levels of government. To further this goal, the Institute is involved in: a) registering voters; b) organizing non-partisan get-out-the-vote drives; and c) voter education. Because of our closely shared interests with the labor movement, the Institute’s registration and mobilization activities are coordinated in conjunction with labor’s main political organizations. The Institute also works with organizations that share its goals, such as the NAACP, National Urban League and other groups.

B. The encouragement and expansion of black involvement in the labor movement. The Institute believes that black unionists must play an active role within their own trade unions. Such activity benefits their local unions, the labor movement and the overall black community.

C. The development of union presence in the black community. By playing an active and constructive role in the black community, black unionists and constructive role in the black community, black unionists can help strengthen the bonds between organized labor and the black community while mobilizing support for the shared legislative and social objectives of the labor and civil rights movements.

Since its formation, the policies and programs of the Institute have been governed by strict adherence to the political values and principles exemplified by A. Philip Randolph. Those values and principles, briefly stated, include:

A. Commitment to work within the labor movement. The vast majority of blacks are workers. While we realize that the labor movement is not a perfect institution, black trade unionists must work within the broad movement of organized workers of all races. The Institute is firmly committed to racial integration, it rejects the idea that black workers can or should solve their own problems in isolation from the overall labor movement. Thus, the tactics and strategies of the Institute must parallel the tactics and strategies of the mainstream trade union movement.

B. Commitment to democracy at home and abroad. The Institute believes that full participation by all the people is only sure guarantee for democracy. Without the democratic involvement of the great majority of black people, the goals of economic equality and respect for human rights will never be achieved. Moreover, our struggle is intimately linked to similar struggles for democracy throughout the world. Such movements can survive and succeed only where political democracy exists. Because of its commitment to International democracy, the Institute has supported clear positions on the survival of democratic states (such as Israel), opposition to totalitarianism of the right or left, and opposition to apartheid, (as in South Africa) and full support for refugees from oppression. The Institute will continue to support for refugees from oppression. The Institute will continue to support positions on other crucial domestic and foreign policy issues as they emerge.

C. Non-endorsed of political candidates. As a non-partisan organization, the Institute shall not endorse political candidates or support political parties. Because of its strict non-endorsed policy, the Institute serves as a unifying force within both the black community and the labor movement.

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