I Am A Man

In 1968, over 1,300 Black sanitation workers in Memphis went on strike, demanding better pay and working conditions. They were inspired by the deaths of Echol Cole and Robert Walker, fellow workers crushed by malfunctioning garbage trucks. Paid only 65 cents an hour, many lived in poverty, forced to rely on welfare and food stamps. Holding signs that read “I Am a Man,” they refused to be treated as invisible any longer.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. came to Memphis to support the strike, delivering his famous "I’ve Been to the Mountaintop" speech on April 3, 1968. The next day, King was assassinated, but the workers persisted, marching peacefully in his honor.

Their efforts succeeded on April 16, when the Memphis City Council recognized their union and granted higher wages. The strike became a defining moment in the civil rights movement, with the workers' slogan "I Am a Man" symbolizing their fight for dignity and justice.