(704) 599-9810 | Worship Sundays @ 10:55 a.m.
(704) 599-9810 | Worship Sundays @ 10:55 a.m.
Sep 25, 2025
Vocation has not always been equally available to all. For much of U.S. history, systemic racism dictated who could work, how they were treated, and whether their dignity was honored.
One powerful story comes from the Pullman Porters — Black men who worked on luxury railroad sleeping cars in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
While the job was considered prestigious compared to other opportunities available to African Americans at the time, it came with harsh realities: long hours, low pay, and constant discrimination.
Porters were often required to answer to the name “George” — after George Pullman, the company’s founder — a practice that erased their individuality and reinforced subservience.
Refusing to accept these conditions, the Porters organized. In 1925, they formed the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, led by A. Philip Randolph.
After years of struggle, they became the first Black-led labor union to win recognition in the United States — improving wages, reducing hours, and setting a precedent for civil rights organizing.
Their persistence fueled momentum that would later carry into the Civil Rights Movement.
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” — Galatians 6:9
The Pullman Porters remind us that vocation is not only about personal calling, but also about collective struggle for justice.
Their story teaches us that discrimination does not erase God’s gifts — and that persistence, faith, and solidarity can transform workplaces, communities, and history itself.
#HCUCCEverywhere #LiveWithPurpose #ThrowbackThursday #JusticeInVocation
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