Image carried over from anticap
The Memphis Sanitation Strike began on 11 February 1968. Citing years of poor treatment, discrimination, dangerous working conditions, and the work-related deaths of Echol Cole and Robert Walker, some 1300 black sanitation workers walked off the job in protest. They sought to join the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 1733.
On March 29, 1968, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr went to Memphis, Tennessee, in support of the black sanitary public works employees. On April 3, King addressed a rally and delivered his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" address at Mason Temple, the world headquarters of the Church of God in Christ. King's flight to Memphis had been delayed by a bomb threat against his plane. King was booked in room 306 at the Lorraine Motel, owned by Walter Bailey, in Memphis.
At 6:01 p.m., April 4, 1968, a shot rang out as King stood on the motel's second floor balcony. The bullet entered through his right cheek, smashing his jaw, then traveled down his spinal cord before lodging in his shoulder. After emergency chest surgery, King was pronounced dead at St Joseph's Hospital at 7:05 p.m. According to biographer Taylor Branch, King's autopsy revealed that though only 39 years old, he had the heart of a 60-year-old man, perhaps a result of the stress of 13 years in the civil rights movement.
The Memphis Sanitation Strike ended on 12 April 1968, with a settlement that included union recognition and wage increases, although additional strikes had to be threatened to force the City of Memphis to honor its agreements.
"Nothing in this world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance, conscientious stupidity .......and riding in the back of a garbage truck".
Further Resources
Hellhound on His Trail : An urgent invitation, a tragic outcome
Side Trip: Jacqueline Smith's personal and private crusade
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