10,000 Black Men Named George

Watching a film like 10,000 Black Men Named George makes me regret that I do not have Showtime on my cable package. This film covers a portion of the life A. Philip Randolph up to the time he gained recognition from the Pullman company as its union for collective bargaining and registered it as such with the newly formed National Labor Relations Board during the New Deal. It may be said that Randolph was the one who was responsible for the wedding of organized labor to the civil rights movement. That was a contribution both singular and unique.

Andre Braugher produced as well as starred in this Paramount film for the Showtime network. His is a powerful performance of a man with a cause that would not quit. Charles Dutton and Mario Van Peebles play a pair of his organizing associates who come from different mindsets, but Randolph makes them effective organizers.

Kenneth MacGregor makes a frightening villain, a composite I'm sure of several in the management of the Pullman company which never had a great record with labor relations. Back in the day George Pullman who was a Republican party stalwart and associate in the day of Abraham Lincoln thought he was doing a great thing for newly freed slaves by offering them jobs at coolie wages as Pullman porters. At the time I'm sure that beat the zero wages and substandard room and board you got as a slave. But people generally have ambitions to better themselves. A point of view that oppressors without exception fail to grasp. And then they yell Socialist, Communist, whatever buzz word epithet is popular at the moment. Randolph in fact was a Socialist because Socialists and Communists were the only ones he saw addressing the needs of his people.

There is a touching performance by Brock Peters who nearly brings the organizing to a halt with his activities. His is the touching view of the newly freed slave who just wants to hang on to what he has or the Man will take it away. I'm sure many may have felt as he did.

Randolph lived long enough to be an integral part of the famous March on Washington from 1963. His emphasis was always on economics. Freedom is fine in the abstract, but without a chance at a living wage it really means nothing but freedom to starve wherever you are.

I can't recommend this film highly enough for young people who are interested in the civil rights era. The story of A. Philip Randolph and his work is essential to understand how civil rights came about.

I only knew the name A. Philip Randolph consequentially. As I've read books about Black historical figures and Black history I've come across Randolph's name, but he's always been a tangential figure, almost a footnote. So, to see a movie dedicated to his work is very refreshing.

In the movie "10,000 Black Men Named George," Randolph is played by Andre Braugher who also helped produce the movie. It begins in 1925 with him being forced to step away from trying to unionize Black hotel workers. You have to understand how bitterly businesses hated unions back then. If forming a union was hard for whites, then it was life threatening for Blacks.

Still, as the movie tells it, A. Philip Randolph was approached by a Pullman Porter named Ashley Totten (Mario Van Peebles) about unionizing. The Pullman Sleeping Car workers were almost all Black men disrespectfully and eponymously named George after George Pullman. They were porters on various passenger train routes throughout the country that used sleeping cars made by George Pullman. They dressed sharply and were respected in their communities, yet at work they were no more than butlers on trains who were subjected to all kinds of degradation. Unionizing the Pullman Porters was going to be a gargantuan task.

"10,000 Men" took us through that fight. We didn't get to see every detail of the battle, but we got a high-level understanding of what the Pullman Porters were up against. As expected, "10,000 Men" will make you angry, but this is a story of triumph and a small tribute to Randolph as well as the many other men who banded together against a tyrannical big business.

I pretty much knew the story about the Pullman porters but to see it in action and in reality just sent chills all through my body. Oh the struggles of our people. And I can't believe that we are still going through racial issues. Awesome awesome movie my favorites Andre Braugher, Charles Dutton and Mario Van peoples. All black people should see this movie.

A very moving and thoughtful film. The script, direction and performances of Dutton and Brauher were exceptional. This is a part of history most people don't know much about and Townsand really pulled off an emotionally satisfying story. four stars

The concept/subject of this movie is great. We need more films about movements for social justice. The costumes are excellent, and the score is enjoyable. That being said, the acting, script, and directing were terrible. In the lead role, Andre Braugher attempts to deliver a performance of understated dignity but instead comes across as flat and unemotional. On the opposite end of bad acting, Charles Dutton shouts every line to try to convey a "larger than life" character. Some of the lines were laughably bad, and i felt sympathy that the actors had to work with that material. I *really* wanted to like this movie, and i guess it's something that I stuck with it to the bitter end. Perhaps worth enduring for its subject matter, but good luck.