10,000 Black Men Named George

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.

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

Enjoyable civil rights saga. While this genre usually has excessive sincerity and unbelievably saintly protagonists, the saga of black civil rights is the great epic of the American 20th century, and it's always stirring to watch. Braugher and Dutton give good performances, the whole thing holds together pretty well. Good background score. Well worth its 90 minutes.

This is the type of movie that does exactly what movies are suppose to do and that's keep you watching. Again Robert Townsend pulled off another dramatic work of motion picture art. The cast is splendid and the dialogue geniune. This is a good looking movie that keeps you on pins till the end. Watching Charles Dutton act in this movie is just wonderful. It's real drama.

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.