Users will witness the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Worker’s Strike and the events leading to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. using the Oculus Rift VR headset. His ties within Memphis’s Black community … James Lawson and T.O. Memphis was paying full-time employees a meager minimum wage, then just $1.60 an hour. The weeks of strikes and protests are where the “I am a Man” campaign was born. A quiet determination to get the best shot continued throughout his life. In 1968, Elmore Nickleberry stood among 1,300 other African-American men in Memphis who collectively asserted their right to be treated with dignity. A new plaza created to honor the sanitation workers who went on strike in 1968. I AM A MAN Scholarship eligibility requirements: All applicants must: • be a current, full-time solid … New videos feature Rev. The "I am a Man" Plaza is located next to Clayborn Temple, a key rallying point for the historic 1968 Memphis sanitation strike. Download premium images you can't get anywhere else. On February 11, hundreds of workers came to a meeting at the Memphis Labor Temple, furious with their working conditions. Today is supposed to be a family day so there are a few children walking around in the small crowd. With the slogan, "I am a man," workers in Memphis sought financial justice in a strike that fatefully became Martin Luther King, Jr.'s final cause. Richard L. Copley took this photograph at the Memphis sanitation workers strike in 1968. Users will witness the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Worker’s Strike and the events leading to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. using the Oculus Rift VR headset. Hernando St. Memphis, TN 38111. Submitted Green, Laurie B. Rev. Howard Greenberg Gallery. "I AM A MAN," the 1968 Memphis sanitation strike slogan, has become emblematic of African Americans' quest for equality during the civil rights movement; however, its … We've got some difficult days ahead.”, “By that time in his life, King was often depressed,” Sokol says. Their compensation, 65 cents per hour, was so low that many were eligible for welfare and food stamps. The signs, says Estes, “became a rallying cry for the movement.”. With Elmore Nickleberry, Leon Caldwell Jr., Mauricio Calvo, Jonh T. Fisher. Hauling trash, sometimes in the pouring rain, was a taxing and dirty job. Teach This in a Learning Plan. Contact for price. City of Memphis v. Martin Luther King, Jr This exhibit is a flyer distributed to sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, asking them to "March for Justice and … Memphis was paying full-time employees a meager minimum wage, then just $1.60 an hour. The University of Memphis does not discriminate against students, employees, or … The Memphis strike created a true mass movement and perhaps the best example of the coalition of labor, the church, civil rights, and students that Martin Luther King, Jr., and generations of organizers had sought. The area features a sculpture along with a wall filled with the names of … I AM A MAN Plaza, is a large-scale experiential public sculpture commissioned to pay tribute to the members of the pivotal 1968 Sanitation Workers’ Strike and the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. A focal point of the Civil Rights Movement, the strike brought Dr. King to Memphis, Tennessee where he was assassinated. With Elmore Nickleberry, Leon Caldwell Jr., Mauricio Calvo, Jonh T. Fisher. Green, explores the racial and gender undertones of a Memphis sanitation strike slogan in 1968 – “I Am a Man.” Emerging from a history of enslavement, African-Americans learn that the civil rights movement didn’t guarantee complete freedom (Green 466). I AM A MAN. It is made in Memphis by an all-Memphis team. ", In a speech to a 25,000-person crowd in Memphis on March 18, 1968, King affirmed the value of the sanitation workers’ labor, saying, “whenever you are engaged in work that serves humanity and is for the building of humanity, it has dignity, and it has worth.”. This gallery expands the story of the 1968 Memphis sanitation strike. On February 1, Echol Cole and Robert Walker, two sanitation workers, were crushed to death in a garbage compactor where they were taking shelter from the rain. Directed by Jonathan Epstein. 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