sanitation strikers
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In Black Memphis, Beale Street Can Talk
Beale Street can talk. She’s country, loud and a bit ghetto. She’s bold like the blackness she exudes throughout the city. She has a thick tongue and a sour drawl. She uses Lisa Akbari’s shampoo and the black tube of Ampro gel to slick down her edges. She refuses to wear a slip when she…
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Memphis, Tenn., Honors 1968 Sanitation Workers With I Am a Man Plaza
Perhaps no phrase encapsulates the sentiment of the struggle for freedom, justice and equality more than “I am a man.” Every day during the 1968 Memphis, Tenn., sanitation workers’ strike, Memphis’ black sanitation employees would meet downtown at the historic Clayborn Temple. When the men arrived, they would pick up picket signs that read, “I…
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Episode 2: The Tragic Deaths of Robert Walker and Echol Cole Sparked 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike
Robert Walker, 30, and Echol Cole, 36, woke up on Thursday, Feb. 1, 1968, and went to work for the Memphis (Tenn.) Sanitation Department. They left their families for a long day of collecting garbage with the full expectation of returning home to them. Instead, as their shifts were about to end and heavy rain…
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Episode 1: Our Video Series Shares Never-Been-Told Stories of the Memphis Sanitation Workers
In Memphis, Tenn., 1968, 1,300 sanitation workers braved the bitter cold to engage in a revolutionary 65-day action to defend their right to personhood. These men struggled against the noose of white supremacy to proclaim their dignity. They stood, shoulder to shoulder, armed with picket signs and perseverance, determined to declare to the world, “I…