I AM A MAN

On February 12, 1968, 1,300 Black sanitation workers went on strike in Memphis, Tennessee. This meant that they refused to do their job of picking up trash throughout the city until their demands were met. But why did the men go on strike? The men were forced to work in dangerous conditions. They were paid very little. They were not allowed to form into groups called unions. They were even treated worse and paid less than their white co-workers just because of the color of their skin. The workers wanted to change this.

The workers had wanted to go on strike for a long time, but it was not easy. They would have to fight racism and people who had more power than them. The strike began a few days after two sanitation workers, Echol Cole and Robert Walker, were crushed to death by their garbage truck while working. For many, it showed how dangerous the job really was.