Ernest Thompson

Ernest Thompson was a union leader, field organizer, and the first African-American on the national staff for the UE, as well as national secretary of UE’s Fair Practices Committee. He was also a national leader of the National Negro Labor Council, fighting racism and discrimination. It was in Orange, New Jersey, that he became known as “Homeboy,” and the majority of Homeboy Came to Orange tells the story of his organizing for “people’s power,” beginning with a fight to desegregate the schools his daughter attended.