The Death Of Richard Trumka, President of The National AFL-CIO A Huge Loss To Organized Labor

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES, August 10, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The sudden death of Richard Trumka, President of the National AFL-CIO, has left a blanket of grief among countless numbers of people — both inside and outside of the labor community. I am Dr. Lyn Hughes, founder of the National APR Pullman Porter Museum (NAPRPPM) am one of those people. Richard Trumka was one of those rare individuals who did not allow the considerable power he wielded, nor his ego, to change the content of his character. At his very core, he was a decent, honorable, man of integrity. Richard Trumka’s Death is a Huge Loss To Labor.

He never yielded to the pressures of high-ranking figures, to change how and why he made decisions. He was acutely aware, that the lives of millions of people, would be impacted by his actions. He frequently used his position to speak out — not only against unfair labor practices, but racism and social justice issues as well. In 2015, the NAPRPP Museum reached out to Mr. Trumka, to inform him that he was the recipient of the A. Philip Randolph Gentle Warrior Award. Quite frankly, we really did not expect him to come to Chicago to accept personally — We just thought it was important that he knew people outside of the labor community appreciated and respected him. We did not expect him to come, simply because we are not a labor organization. We are a 26-year-old Cultural Institution — that honors and celebrates an important component of American history — Black Labor Contributions and Civil Rights.

We are the National A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum the only one of its kind world-wide. NAPRPPM is the first and only, officially establish Black labor history museum in the nation. The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Union, BSCP, was founded by the legendary A. Philip Randolph. The BSCP union was the first Black Labor Union in America, to be chartered under the AFL.

It is significant to note, we did not know Mr. Trumka. It was even more interesting, to find out something we never knew about or why it happened, but we were informed that high-ranking individuals lobbied to persuade Mr. Trumka not to come to Chicago, receive the award. Despite their efforts, he not only came to accept the award, but he also made a point to come the museum as seen in the photo here. He wanted to see what we had created to honor the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and the unions founder A. Philip Randolph. To me, that was an excellent demonstration of the character of the man Richard Trumka was. We lost a very special person.

Dr. Lyn Hughes, Founder, National A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum
Chicago, IL
Media@aprppmuseum.org
917-CULTURE [917-285-8873]
https://aprpullmanportermuseum.org/

Dr. Lyn Hughes
National Pullman Porter Museum
+1 773-850-8580
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