I AM STORY
by AFSCME
In 1968, sanitation workers in Memphis took a stand against degrading and deadly working conditions. They declared a strike that would lead to a movement that would shake the nation. The I AM STORY podcast tells the story of the sanitation workers who dared to declare: I AM A MAN.
Episodes
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We Will Never Stop
In the fifth episode of the I AM Story podcast, current labor leaders discuss how the lessons of the Memphis Sanitation Workers' Strike are as relevant today as they were 55 years ago. Whether it's building resolve in the face of setbacks, understanding the power of non-violent civil…
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Stand Up, Don't Sit Down
Episode 4 of the I AM STORY podcast looks at the impact the strike had on the lives of the people involved and the challenges workers have faced in the years since.
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We Will Not Be Turned Around
Seven weeks after the sanitation strike began, garbage was piling up and the city was feeling the pressure. The labor action was expanding into a mass community mobilization – with churches, student activists, and civil rights organizations and even outside agitators joining the fray. But the…
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I Am A Man
In the wake of the deaths of Echol Cole and Robert Walker, 1,300 Memphis sanitation workers went on strike. The men were demanding safer working conditions and basic respect for the services they provided. But Mayor Henry Loeb dug in, refusing to recognize their union or even talk to the workers....
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The Breaking Point
In 1968, Memphis sanitation workers faced dangerous and degrading conditions on the job. The mayor showed the men no respect, paying them poverty wages and refusing to recognize their union. During a driving rainstorm on February 1, Robert Walker and Echol Cole were crushed to death as they…
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PREVIEW: The strike that shook the nation
In 1968, Memphis sanitation workers went on strike – for dignity, for respect, for recognition of their basic humanity. Courageously, they declared: I AM A MAN. The strike would draw together the labor movement and the civil rights movement in a way that changed the course of history. The I AM...
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INTRODUCING THE I AM STORY PODCAST
In 1968, two Memphis sanitation workers, Robert Walker and Echol Cole, were crushed to death in the back of their truck, a horrific accident that was the result of shocking negligence by city leaders. The workers had raised a red flag that trucks in the fleet were unsafe. But the city didn't...
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SNEAK PEEK: I AM STORY
In 1968, sanitation workers in Memphis took a stand against degrading and deadly working conditions. They declared a strike that would lead to a movement that would shake the nation. The I AM STORY podcast tells the story of the sanitation workers who dared to declare: I AM A MAN. Learn more at...
About this show
In 1968, sanitation workers in Memphis took a stand against degrading and deadly working conditions. They declared a strike that would lead to a movement that would shake the nation. The I AM STORY podcast tells the story of the sanitation workers who dared to declare: I AM A MAN.
Hosted by
AFSCME
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