Two Black Workers Crushed in Garbage Truck Sp

Описание: Two Black Workers Crushed in Garbage Truck Sparked MLK's Final Speech"

VIDEO DESCRIPTION:
February 1, 1968. Two Black sanitation workers were crushed to death by racism—and sparked the movement that brought Martin Luther King Jr. to Memphis.
Echol Cole, 36, and Robert Walker, 30, reported for work on a rainy Thursday in Memphis, Tennessee. When a torrential downpour hit around 4:20 PM, city policy prohibited Black workers from seeking shelter inside the truck cab with white supervisors. Instead, they climbed into the back of the garbage compactor—a space filled with rotting waste.
The compression mechanism malfunctioned. According to eyewitness Elester Gregory, who rode in the truck's cab, "The motor started racing and the driver stopped and ran around and smashed that button to stop that thing. I didn't know what was happening. It looked to me like one of them almost got out, but he got caught and just fell back in there."
Both men were crushed to death instantly. Their bodies were retrieved and pronounced dead at John Gaston Hospital. The city of Memphis classified them as hourly employees, which meant their families received no worker's compensation. The city offered each family $500 for funeral expenses—neither Cole nor Walker could afford the city's life insurance policy on their poverty wages.
Black sanitation workers in Memphis earned $1.60 per hour in 1968 (equivalent to about $14 in 2024). Many qualified for welfare and food stamps. They worked long hours without overtime pay, often forced to work other jobs to survive. The deaths of Cole and Walker were the breaking point.
On February 11, 1968—ten days after the tragedy—more than 700 workers attended a union meeting organized by AFSCME Local 1733 and unanimously voted to strike. On February 12, 1968, 1,300 Black sanitation workers refused to show up for work, demanding union recognition, higher wages, and safer working conditions.
The strike lasted 65 days. Workers marched daily carrying signs that read "I AM A MAN"—a simple declaration of dignity that became the symbol of the movement. Martin Luther King Jr., who was organizing his Poor People's Campaign at the time, was invited to Memphis by Reverend James Lawson and other local Black leaders.
On March 18, 1968, King addressed approximately 25,000 people at Mason Temple—the largest indoor gathering of the Civil Rights era in the South. He returned on April 3, 1968, and delivered his final public speech: "I've Been to the Mountaintop."
#EcholCole, #RobertWalker, #BlackHistory, #MLK, #MartinLutherKingJr, #LaborHistory, #MemphisStrike, #CivilRights, #AFSCME, #WorkersRights, #UnionStrong, #IAmAMan, #1968History, #NeverForget, #SocialJustice, #Organize, #LaborMovement, #HistoryMatters, #TrueStory, #FacebookReels, #EducationalContent, #ShareThisStory, #HumanRights, #Dignity, #Legacy, #RememberTheirNames, #StandTogether, #UnionPride, #HistoryLesson, #CivilRightsMovement


ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Oral Tradition Documentation:
Schmidt, Peter R. Oral Traditions, Archaeology and History: A Short Reflective History in Schmidt & Patterson (eds.) Making Alternative Histories (1995)
Vansina, Jan Oral Tradition as History (1985) - Methodology for oral historical sources
Henige, David The Chronology of Oral Tradition (1974)

Haya Cultural Studies:
Reining, Priscilla The Haya: The Agrarian System of a Sedentary People Dissertation, University of Chicago (1967)
Carlsen, John Economic and Social Transformation in Rural Kenya (1980) - Regional context
Katoke, Israel K. The Karagwe Kingdom: A History of the Abanyambo of Northwestern Tanzania (1975)

AFRICAN METALLURGY STUDIES
Regional Iron Age Research