I AM A MAN

In coming weeks, we will have a curriculum guide available here for educators who wish to use “I Am a Man” as a teaching tool.

For now, here are some links we hope provide more insight into our project and the Memphis Sanitation Strike of 1968.

MR. ELMORE NICKLEBERRY

BBC’s “World News America”
The British Broadcasting Corp. visited Memphis in 2008 for the annual commemoration of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  They also featured Mr. Nickleberry and fellow worker Ben Jones.

“Sanitation Strike Veteran Remembers Past, Cherishes Progress”
An article by The Memphis Commercial Appeals’ Zach McMillin on Mr. Nickleberry.

GENERAL SANITATION STRIKE HISTORY

“At the River I Stand”
This compelling 1993 documentary by Memphians David Appleby, Allison Graham and Steven Ross provides a broader look at the Sanitation Strike of 1968.

“Sanitation Workers Have No Pensions”
Mr. Nickleberry says he still enjoys working well into his seventies.  But his work ethic is tied to a complicated legacy from the 1968 Sanitation Strike that, despite their heroic stand, left him and many others like him without the type of pension that most city workers across America can depend upon. The Memphis Commercial Appeal’s Zach McMillin explains.

“Going Down Jericho Road”
Among the more widely praised books on the intersection between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the sanitation workers is this recent effort by historian Michael Honey.

AFSCME
More on the union whose successful attempt to organize the Memphis sanitation workers also yielded an unforgettable slogan.

THE “I AM A MAN” SONG
Our project features a special song written by Deanie Parker, who worked at Stax Records in Memphis alongside some of popular music’s most celebrated and cherished singers and musicians.  “I Am a Man” marks her first song in decades.