Congressman Adam Clayton Powell rallied for better employement opportunities for African Americans in Harlem, and eventually led the Harlem Bus Boycott of 1941. At the time major and coach companies refused to hire black employees as either mechanics or bus drivers, due to company policy.

The Harlem Bus Boycott of 1941 fought for greater employment opportunities for Blacks. During that time, major and Coach companies refused to employ black workers as bus drivers and mechanics. This exclusion of blacks was apart of their policy.. Between the Fifth Avenue Coach Company and the New York Omnibus Corporation there were only sixteen black employees and most were janitors. The Harlem Bus Boycott was led by Adam Clayton Powell. Powell was the leader of the Greater New York Coordinating Committee for Employment. His organization joined with the …show more content…
From this committee, Powell emerged as the spokesperson. He also worked very closely with the Transport Workers Union leader, Michael J. Quill. In exchange for Powell’s support of the union strike, the union supported their boycott. Powell was very adamant about the use of nonviolent methods, which is why he chose to boycott. The boycott officially began March 24th of 1941 and lasted one month. In that month, the campaign “kept sixty thousand persons off the buses each day at a loss of $3,000 in daily fares.” The campaign was able to last due to the large community involvement. Privately owned vehicles were used to transport boycotters to and from work. The Harlem Bus Boycott was a success. Both groups, the white labor union and the black boycott campaign were able to achieve their goals. Blacks began being employed by