Honoring African American Contributions in Labor: A Legacy of Strength, Struggle & Progress

A powerful street art mural depicting African American steelworkers, symbolizing the resilience and contributions of Black labor in America's industrial history. In the background, a subtle image of the Youngstown Sheet and Tube steel mill represents the historical significance of Black workers in the steel industry. The artwork highlights themes of economic justice, labor rights, and the ongoing fight for fair wages and workplace protections.

By Michael Smith

As Black History Month 2025 begins, we turn our focus to a fundamental pillar of the Black experience in America: labor. This year’s theme, “African Americans and Labor,” highlights the deep and often overlooked impact Black workers have had in shaping the nation’s economy, industries, and labor movements—from enslavement to unionization, from exclusion to empowerment.

For centuries, Black labor has been the backbone of America’s economic rise. Yet, the history of that labor has been marked by exploitation, resilience, and a continuous fight for justice. While we honor achievements, we must also recognize the systemic barriers still in place today—because history doesn’t just live in books, it lives in the policies, pay gaps, and workplace inequities that Black workers continue to face.

The Foundations: Enslaved Labor & the Building of America

Before America was a superpower, before Wall Street, before industrialization, there was Black labor—stolen, unpaid, and indispensable. Enslaved Africans built the agricultural wealth of the South, laying the economic foundation that would make America a global powerhouse. But their contributions didn’t stop at plantations:

Skilled Black craftsmen built cities, from Charleston to Washington, D.C.
Black domestic laborers sustained households and economies.
Black inventors like Benjamin Montgomery (steamboat propeller) and Norbert Rillieux (sugar refining process) revolutionized industries despite legal restrictions.

The forced labor of Black Americans made America wealthy—while they remained in chains. And when slavery ended, that labor was still exploited through sharecropping, convict leasing, and segregationist policies designed to limit Black economic mobility.

The Labor Movement: Fighting for Inclusion in Unions

By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as America industrialized, labor unions gained power—but often at the exclusion of Black workers. Many of the largest labor organizations, including the American Federation of Labor (AFL), explicitly barred Black membership.

Yet, Black workers didn’t wait for a seat at the table—they built their own.

The Colored National Labor Union (1869) was one of the first efforts to organize Black laborers.
A. Philip Randolph and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (1925) became the first Black-led labor union to receive a charter under the AFL.
The Civil Rights Movement and the labor movement became deeply intertwined—with leaders like Randolph and Martin Luther King Jr. recognizing that economic justice was inseparable from racial justice.

Randolph once said:
"Freedom is never granted; it is won. Justice is never given; it is exacted."

And Black workers have been exacting justice ever since.

The Battle Continues: Black Labor & Economic Justice Today

Fast forward to 2025, and Black workers still face significant disparities:

Wage Gaps – Black workers earn 20% less than white workers on average.
Job Discrimination – Studies show that Black job applicants are less likely to get callbacks even when qualifications are equal.
Union Attacks – Right-to-work laws disproportionately harm Black workers, who benefit from union protection at higher rates than any other demographic.
The Gig Economy & AI Threats – Automation threatens Black jobs at twice the rate of white jobs due to overrepresentation in service and manual labor industries.

And let’s not forget the deliberate policy rollbacks from the current administration—cutting DEI initiatives, weakening labor protections, and restricting Black business opportunities. These attacks are not new; they are part of the same fight that has been waged for generations.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Celebrating Black labor must go beyond history—it must be about action. The fights of the past are still the fights of today:

Demand fair wages and stronger worker protections.
Defend unions, because Black workers thrive in unionized workplaces.
Challenge corporate attacks on diversity and inclusion in hiring.
Support Black-owned businesses and entrepreneurship.

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “The struggle is for genuine equality, which means economic equality.” If we truly want to honor Black labor this month, we must commit to ensuring that Black workers are valued—not just in words, but in wages, protections, and policies.