| |
IN CELEBRATION
OF AFRICAN AMERICAN
HISTORY MONTH
We
are living through an interesting point in our country’s history.
An African American man and a woman are both democratic hopefuls for president
of the United States. Wow!
Barack Obama may be the only African American serving
in the US Senate today, but did you know that he is not the first to ever
serve in that office? Four preceded him. The first US Senator was from
Mississippi and he was sworn into office on February 25, 1870 at the age
of 48. Born to free parents in 1822, Hiram Rhodes Revels
was an educator and AME minister who had helped establish schools for
freed Blacks and form regiments of soldiers during the Civil War. We must
know our history.
Make African American history month an everyday
event in your home. Share the knowledge!
This year the UFCW Minority Coalition is focusing on the 1968
Memphis Sanitation Workers strike. Forty years ago some courageous
black workers in the deep South got tired of being mistreat and abused
on the job and decided to take matters into their hands to rectify the
situation. The rest of this story is a large part of our history.
On Monday, February 12, 1968, 1,300 black sanitation workers in Memphis
walked off their jobs. The strike that lasted almost two months, started
over a sewer worker's grievance and unequal treatment of whites and blacks
on the job. The union demanded better pay and working conditions, recognition
of the union and a system of dues checkoff. The mayor of Memphis, Henry
Loeb, refused to recognize the union, maintained that the strike was illegal
and refused to discuss the workers' grievances until after they returned
to work.
The black community, churches and union members were
determined to keep pressing for more than the sanitation workers’
rights. And to the black sanitation workers, recognition of their union
by the city was crucial, because it meant that they would be treated as
men and as equals.
Martin Luther King Jr. was asked to speak at a rally
support for the sanitation workers. As the most magnetic civil rights
leader in the country, he was in a position to focus national attention
upon the plights of the Memphis blacks. Important labor leaders from all
over the country expressed support and solidarity. Memphis is where King
delivered the famous "I've been to the Mountaintop"
address.
It was while he was on this mission in Memphis that
King was assassinated on April 4, 1968. In a massive march which followed
his death, civil rights and labor leaders pointed out that the most appropriate
response the country could make would be to the adoption of King's goals,
by making a fair settlement of the sanitation strike. King's assassination
helped to win a victory for his last cause. The city now did what the
mayor swore it would never do--recognized the union, permitted dues checkoff,
granted a pay raise and introduced a system of merit promotions. In
this, his last campaign, Martin Luther King had chosen to join a labor
fight--a fight that meant economic gains and justice for black workers.
To listen and view clips of the Memphis, Tennessee striking sanitation
workers, visit:
www.MLKinMemphis.com.
During
this month-long celebration, we must study our past to understand and
envision a bright future. Our struggles are far from over.
"As I have said many times, and believe with all my heart, the
coalition that can have the greatest impact in the struggle for human
dignity here in America is that of the blacks and forces of labor, because
their fortunes are so closely intertwined".
Martin Luther King, Jr.
|
|
