AFSCME - Dr. King and the 1968 AFSCME Memphis Sanitation Strike

AFSCME - Dr. King and the 1968 AFSCME Memphis Sanitation Strike

Dr. King and the 1968 AFSCME Memphis Sanitation Strike

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Photo Credit: Richard L. Copley

On April 3, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. traveled to Memphis to support AFSCME sanitation workers. That evening, he delivered his famous “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech to a packed room of supporters. The next day, he was assassinated.

Read the full “Mountaintop” speech.

AFSCME Pres. McEntee on King Anniversary.

VIDEO: AFSCME AND DR. KING

• 1968 AFSCME Sanitation Workers' Strike
  Video from author Michael Honey features footage of the Memphis strike (3 min. 30 sec.)
• "Labor Groups Pledge to Keep King's Dream Alive"
  from WREG-TV in Memphis, January 17, 2008 (3 min. 41 sec.)
• "I Am A Man"
  Documentary about AFSCME, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the 1968 Memphis Strike (10 min. 1 sec.)

MEMPHIS: WE REMEMBER

“I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Labor

1968 AFSCME Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike Chronology

Coverage from Public Employee Magazine in 1968

In Memphis: A Special Report from the Southern Regional Council

More from Public Employee Magazine