March on Washington Movement

The March on Washington Movement (MOWM), 1941–1946, organized by activists A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin^[1] was a tool designed to pressure the U.S. government into providing fair working opportunities for African Americans and desegregating the armed forces by threat of mass marches on Washington, D.C. during World War II. When President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802 in 1941, prohibiting discrimination in the defense industry under contract to federal agencies, Randolph and collaborators called off the initial march.

Randolph continued to promote non-violent actions to advance goals for African Americans. Future civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and other younger men were strongly influenced by Randolph and his ideals and methods.