Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike - Feb 1st To Apr 16th 1968 - Memphis , Tennessee, USA. - Timelines on Waymarking.com

I Am A Man Plaza creates a space that intends to educate, & inspire future generations to stand up for social justice.

The focal point of the plaza is the I AM A MAN sculpture, a Workers Memorial Wall, featuring 1,300 names, & a timeline that lists the historic events, that lead to the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. & the resolution of the sanitation workers strike.

Located near the Clayborn Temple, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.

From Several History Websites:
"Perhaps no phrase encapsulates the sentiment of the struggle for freedom, justice and equality more than “I am a man.”

Every day during the 1968 Memphis, Tenn., sanitation workers’ strike, Memphis’ black sanitation employees would meet downtown at the historic Clayborn Temple. When the men arrived, they would pick up picket signs that read, “I am a man,” and march downtown to protest the unequal wages and unsafe conditions to which they were subjected by the city of Memphis. The signs, printed in the basement of Clayborn Temple, became one of the iconic slogans and symbols of the civil rights struggle.

The strike had been going on for weeks before the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. decided to join the striking workers. It began when Echol Cole and Robert Walker lost their lives in a trash compactor and ended shortly after King was gunned down on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel.

On Thursday the city of Memphis formally acknowledged its role in the strike and the part it played in the events that led to the death of King when it dedicated the new I Am a Man Plaza.
Seated next to Clayborn Temple, I Am aMan Plaza is framed by a marble entrance that features quotes by King and others involved in the sanitation strike. Markers encircle the plaza, each one recounting the timeline of the strike.

The centerpiece of the space is the I Am a Man sculpture. Designed by sculptor Cliff Garten, who won the national competition to create the project, the bronze-and-stainless-steel piece features the iconic quote with the words of the sanitation workers carved into the body of the work.

Along the border of the plaza is a wall with the names of each of the 1,300 sanitation workers etched into marble.
“A few family members of the sanitation workers came to the park and just wanted to touch the names,” said Garten tearfully. “It is a really incredible thing.”

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