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Cedric de Leon, "Freedom Train: Black Politics and the Story of Interracial Labor Solidarity" (U California Press, 2025)

Apr 9, 2026

Cedric de Leon, Professor of Sociology and former union organizer, explains his book Freedom Train. He traces Black political organizing in the labor movement. He highlights tensions and debates within Black civil society. He discusses Caribbean radical influence, culture as struggle, and the Memphis sanitation strike’s role in interracial labor solidarity.

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INSIGHT

March on Washington Built By Black Labor Organizers

The March on Washington was organized principally by Black labor activists, not only by civil-rights clergy or national figures.
The Negro American Labor Council, led by A. Philip Randolph with Bayard Rustin directing logistics, mobilized Sleeping Car Porters and labor rank-and-file to build the march.

INSIGHT

Fractious Black Politics Strengthened Solidarity

Black politics included both consensus and conflict; internal disagreements strengthened agency rather than weakened it.
Cedric de Leon argues that debates, intrigue, and sometimes betrayal produced tactical innovations and demonstrated Black investment in interracial labor solidarity.

INSIGHT

Tactical Innovation Emerged From Internal Splits

Tactical innovations often emerged from left-versus-centrist rifts within Black civil society.
Example: Philip Randolph split from the National Negro Congress and devised the March on Washington as a direct-pressure tactic against the state.

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Our guest today is Cedric de Leon, author of Freedom Train: Black Politics and the Story of Interracial Labor Solidarity (U California Press, 2025). In this book, de Leon explores the complex and often overlooked history of Black political organizing within the U.S. labor movement. Rather than presenting a simple story of unity, he highlights the tensions, debates, and internal conflicts within Black civil society that ultimately strengthened movements for interracial labor solidarity. The book traces key organizations, leaders, and events from early socialist influences in Harlem to the rise of labor coalitions and the Memphis sanitation strike; demonstrating how Black workers and leaders actively shaped strategies for liberation. By focusing on both cooperation and disagreement, de Leon argues that Black political agency is best understood through this dynamic interplay. Freedom Train ultimately reframes labor history by centering Black voices and showing how their activism was crucial in pushing forward both civil rights and workers’ rights in America.

Our guest, Cedric de Leon, is a Professor of Sociology and Labor studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. From 2018 to 2022, Cedric directed the UMass Amherst Labor Center, the country's premier worker-side graduate program in Labor Studies. He was the first person of color to do so. Before de Leon became an academic, he worked as a staff organizer and elected leader in the U.S. labor movement. His research focuses on race, labor, social movements, and political sociology, and he has published several books examining labor history and organizing. He has written extensively about how social movements organize and how political identities are formed, particularly within Black communities and labor struggles. His research combines historical analysis with sociological theory to better understand power, resistance, and collective action.

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