Why was Dr. King in Memphis when he was killed?
To support a sanitation workers' strike. Peter Dreier tells the story.
Wages averaged about $1.70 per hour. Forty percent of the workers qualified for welfare to supplement their poverty-level salaries. They had almost no health care benefits, pensions, or vacations. They worked in filthy conditions, and lacked basic amenities like a place to eat and shower. They were required to haul leaky garbage tubs that spilled maggots and debris on them. White supervisors called them "boy" and arbitrarily sent them home without pay for minor infractions that they overlooked when white workers did the same thing. The workers asked Memphis Mayor Henry Loeb and the city council to improve their working conditions, but they refused to do so.On February 12, 1,300 black sanitation workers walked off their jobs, demanding that the city recognize their union (the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFSCME) and negotiate to resolve their grievances. They also demanded a pay increase to $2.35 an hour, overtime pay, and merit promotions without regard to race.
For the next several months, city officials refused to negotiate with the union. In private, Mayor Loeb reportedly told associates, "I'll never be known as the mayor who signed a contract with a Negro union."
[snip]
King came back to Memphis on Wednesday, April 3 to address a rally to pressure city officials to negotiate a compromise solution to the strike.
For his trouble, he was killed on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel the following day. He was 39 years old.
As Dreier says, people forget that Dr. King was an activist. He's been praised to the skies for his oratory with good reason, but he was first and foremost a man who wanted things changed and one who did things to instill those changes.
Happy Birthday, Dr. King.
Posted by Linkmeister at January 15, 2007 12:20 PM | TrackBackYou've heard the story about Nichelle Nichols wanting to leave Star Trek because there was so little for her character to do besides being a glorified phone operator? Apparently King convinced her to stay because he felt it was important for her to remind others that black people exist.
Posted by: Serge at January 16, 2007 05:12 AMNever heard that one.
I was waiting for a space available flight at Travis AFB in 1968 or 1969; she was performing at the Officers Club. I confess I had no idea who she was (the frat house I lived in in Tucson had no television). In fact, I don't recall any of us college kids being enthralled with any TV at all, not even football.
Posted by: Linkmeister at January 16, 2007 07:58 AMThat's what I read somewhere. That, of course, doesn't entail veracity.
I never belonged to a fraternity, and I don't expect one to be like those in Animal House, but... No TV, even in 1968?
Posted by: Serge at January 16, 2007 10:37 AMI think we pulled one in from somewhere for big events, but no. The living room was couches (Naugahyde, maybe?) and chairs and a pool table.
I imagine our housemother had a portable.
Posted by: Linkmeister at January 16, 2007 01:57 PMI always thought Denise Nichols was so regal looking. I'm glad she stayed on.
I love William Shatner on Boston Legal....
"Live Long and Prosper"