The Struggle Continues in Memphis as Labor and Allies Honor Martin Luther King Jr.

by Kate Childs Graham  |  April 04, 2013

Pres. Lee Saunders meets with the 1968 strikers.

MEMPHIS – They warned him against it. They told him it would be too dangerous. Even reckless. But Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., went to Memphis, Tenn. anyway. He took the risk, following the lead of the 1,300 sanitation workers who risked their livelihoods to go on strike.

Forty-five years ago, Dr. King stood at the pulpit of the Mason Temple in what would be his final act of solidarity. His words were more like prophecies.

“And then I got into Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out…Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead,” he said. “But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop.”

Forty-five years ago today, King was assassinated.

Attendees of Wednesday night's forum and celebration.

Yesterday, hundreds gathered at the Mason Temple for an event organized by AFSCME to commemorate King’s life and his work on behalf of 1,300 striking sanitation workers of AFSCME Local 1733 in 1968. The evening started with a song and a prayer and AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker set the tone for the evening, challenging the crowd to maintain unity.

AFSCME Pres. Lee Saunders honored the 1968 strikers. “They made a demand, and their demand sounded throughout Memphis. When Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., stood with them, together, they changed the course of history.”

He challenged attendees to move King’s work forward. “We must be agents of change, just as the sanitation workers were 45 years ago. We must pick up the torch that Dr. King and the sanitation workers carried, letting its flame light the path and guide us through the darkness.”

Indeed, like those famous strikers who came before them, many current workers of Local 1733 still suffer from unfair wages and unsafe working conditions.

MSNBC host Karen Finney led a panel discussion of leaders including Van Jones of Rebuild the Dream, Johanna Puno Hester of APALA and an AFSCME International Vice president, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), Terry O’Neill of the National Organization for Women and Benjamin Todd Jealous of the NAACP. The panel covered everything from budgets and equal pay to voting rights and immigrant justice, focusing on the need for unity and stamina.

King’s eldest son, Martin Luther King III, stood in the exact spot his father did 45 years ago. He recalled lessons he learned from his father and mother, lessons of love and solidarity. And he ended, “We can never ever forget about organizing. Organize. Organize. Organize.”