Teamsters Local 667
Memphis Strong — carrying the legacy of 1968
Powering · Labor Education
National Civil Rights Museumcivilrightsmuseum.org
I AM A MAN.
Where the labor movement and the civil rights movement became one story.
In 1968, Memphis sanitation workers of AFSCME Local 1733 walked off the job for dignity, safety, and a living wage. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. came to stand with them — and gave his life doing it, at the Lorraine Motel. Today that site is the National Civil Rights Museum.
The 1968 Sanitation Strike
After the deaths of workers Echol Cole and Robert Walker, more than 1,300 Memphis sanitation workers struck for union recognition, safe conditions, and fair pay. They marched behind a single, unmistakable demand: "I AM A MAN."
Organized through AFSCME and rallied at Clayborn Temple, the strike drew national attention. It was Dr. James M. Lawson Jr., pastor at Centenary UMC and chair of the strike's strategy committee, who personally invited Dr. King to Memphis to stand with the workers. His final speech — "I've Been to the Mountaintop" — was delivered the night before he was assassinated on April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel.
It is the moment labor rights and civil rights became inseparable. That is the story this app carries forward.
The Four Pillars & 1968
Each of our Four Pillars of Black Labor Power connects to the Memphis story — some on the ground, some as its foundation. We tell it straight.
Dr. James M. Lawson Jr.
Pastor at Centenary UMC in Memphis, chaired the strike's COME committee, and personally invited Dr. King to Memphis.
William "Bill" Lucy
AFSCME's key organizer in Memphis, widely credited with the rallying cry that defined the strike: “I AM A MAN.”
Bayard Rustin
Came to Memphis in April 1968 and helped coordinate the memorial march after Dr. King's assassination.
A. Philip Randolph
By 1968 he was 79 and not in Memphis — but the entire Black labor movement that powered the strike descends from his work.
Carrying the Legacy Forward
Educate
Learn the 1968 strike and the labor–civil rights bond, then experience it in person at the National Civil Rights Museum.
Organize
Clayborn Temple and AFSCME Local 1733 wrote the playbook. Their story is a living organizing case study for today's locals.
Mobilize
Bring your members, youth, and apprentices to walk the ground where dignity was won — and recommit to the fight.
National Civil Rights Museum
Built at the Lorraine Motel, the museum traces the American civil rights movement from slavery to today. For working families, it is sacred ground — the place Dr. King fell while standing with striking workers.
450 Mulberry St., Memphis, TN 38103 · (901) 521-9699
Bring Your Local
Planning a union group visit, apprentice field trip, or member event at the museum? Tell us and we'll help coordinate.
