THE SOUTH GOT SOMETHING TO SAY
Educate · Organize · Mobilize
NEW! PLAY UNION STRONG GAMES
The first-ever union education video games
UNION STRONG
Labor Education
Need help? Ask me anything!
The Fourth Pillar · Centenary UMC Memphis
Dr. James M. Lawson Jr.
The Memphis Pastor Who Called King · The Labor Educator Who Taught LA to Win
"Dr. Lawson is the leading nonviolent theorist in the world."
— Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., describing the man who would, fifteen years later, call him to Memphis
Co-Stewarded By
Centenary United Methodist Church
"The Miracle on McLemore" — Memphis, TN
Centenary is the church where Dr. Lawson pastored from 1962 to 1974 — the sanctuary where the strategy for the 1968 sanitation strike was set, and where the phone call to Dr. King was placed. Today the work continues under Pastor Keith Caldwell, a former union member and seasoned grassroots organizer who champions racial, economic, and social justice. The Memphis & West Tennessee Central Labor Council partners with Pastor Caldwell's ministry today.
Two Labor Eras · One Pastor
Memphis 1968 Was Just the Beginning
Lawson's labor work spanned 56 years and two coasts. Memphis 1968 was the spark. The fifty years that followed in Los Angeles produced the modern American low-wage worker movement — and most Americans have never been taught any of it.
1968 · Memphis
Sanitation Workers & AFSCME
Called Dr. King. Chaired COME. Worked alongside AFSCME and Bill Lucy. Won the contract. Lost the prophet. Set the template for clergy-labor coalition that would define the next half-century.
1974-2024 · Los Angeles
UNITE HERE · SEIU · CLUE · UCLA
Co-founded CLUE (Clergy & Laity United for Economic Justice). Founding role in UNITE HERE Local 11 (LA hotel workers). Mentored SEIU's Justice for Janitors. Taught at UCLA Labor Center for 22 years. The UCLA James Lawson Jr. Worker Justice Center is named for him.
The Four Pillars of Black Labor Power
Why Lawson Completes the Arc
Randolph (1925) gave Black labor its first major union. Rustin (1947-1963) gave the civil rights movement its tactics. Lawson (1968-2024) brought those tactics home to Memphis through the local church — and then spent 50 years teaching American unions how to use them. Lucy (1968-2024) carried the Memphis moment into a national institution.Take away any one of the four — and the movement we inherited does not exist.
Teacher-Ready Curriculum
Module 1 — Available Now
Co-built with Centenary UMC Memphis under Pastor Keith Caldwell. Modules 2-5 will roll out next: India 1953 · Nashville Workshops · LA Labor Era (UNITE HERE 11, CLUE, Justice for Janitors) · UCLA James Lawson Jr. Worker Justice Center.
Centenary Memphis 1968 — The Phone Call That Brought King
Every American student is taught King died in Memphis. Almost none are taught who called him. This module restores Lawson — and Centenary UMC — to the center of the story they made possible. Includes essential question, 3-part narrative, primary sources, 5 discussion questions, and a classroom mapping activity.
Download Module 1 (PDF)Lawson at a Glance — Print & Share
Two-page overview suitable for church bulletins, union newsletter inserts, classroom handouts, or community meeting packets. Includes the Centenary UMC partnership block with current pastor contact info and the Four Pillars framing.
Download One-Pager (PDF)Timeline
A Life in 13 Moments
Born September 22 in Uniontown, PA. Raised in an AME Zion preaching family in Massillon, Ohio.
Refused induction during the Korean War. Served 13 months in federal prison for religious pacifism.
Studied Gandhian satyagraha in India as a Methodist missionary — the same training Rustin took in 1948.
Ran the Nashville Workshops on Nonviolence. Trained John Lewis, Diane Nash, Bevel, Vivian, Lafayette, Marion Barry.
Co-founded the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
Called to pastor Centenary UMC at 584 E. McLemore Ave, Memphis.
Echol Cole & Robert Walker crushed to death. 1,300 sanitation workers strike. Lawson named chairman of COME.
Lawson calls Dr. King. King comes to Memphis March 18 and speaks at Mason Temple.
King delivers 'I've Been to the Mountaintop' speech at Mason Temple.
King assassinated at the Lorraine Motel.
Sanitation workers win their contract. The strike is over.
Leaves Centenary after 12 years. Called to pastor Holman UMC in Los Angeles — begins his second labor era.
Co-founds Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE) in LA — linking churches to union campaigns.
Plays founding role in UNITE HERE Local 11. Mentors SEIU's Justice for Janitors campaign and the LA living wage movement.
Teaches 'Nonviolence and Social Movements' at the UCLA Labor Center for 22 years alongside Kent Wong.
Awarded the UCLA Medal — UCLA's highest honor.
UCLA Labor Center headquarters renamed the James Lawson Jr. Worker Justice Center.
LA County designates September 22 (his birthday) as Rev. James Lawson Jr. Day.
Passes away in Los Angeles at age 95.
Go Deeper — Trusted Resources
Labor Education builds with Centenary UMC Memphis and honors the institutions that documented and continue Lawson's work. Start with the two videos at the top — UNITE HERE Local 11's tribute is the strongest 5-minute introduction to his labor legacy you can find anywhere.
Stewarded by Centenary UMC Memphis. Labor Education thanks Pastor Keith Caldwell — and honors Dr. James Lawson, who taught a generation how.
