Overview

The Perpetuation of a False Narrative

Instead of perpetuating the myth that a select handful of heroic figures made change on their own, we should be putting these figures within the larger context of collective struggles for justice (Kohl, 2003; Picower 2012). We should be interrogating what these figures really stood for and stood against, and we should be disrupting the whitewashed narratives presented in popular media and curricular materials (Kent, 1999).

The Memphis Sanitation Strike

The Memphis Sanitation Strike took place from February 12, 1968 - April 16, 1968. The 65 day strike was led by sanitation workers and began without guaranteed support from any union or racial justice organizations. Memphis sanitation workers were almost exclusively Black men and had been working under dangerous conditions and doing "full-time work for part-time pay" for years. The Black men were relegated to physical labor without opportunities for advancement, while positions in supervision and management were given exclusively to White men. Led by T.O. Jones, workers had tried to unionize for decades and had continually faced oppressive White city governments and public sanitation departments who refused to recognize or bargain with a labor union. After years of refusal of union recognition, and unjust pay and working conditions, two Black sanitation workers, Echol Cole and Robert Walker, were killed in the back of a garbage truck as they tried to seek cover from rain. The deaths of Cole and Walker, combined with years of abysmal pay and dangerous working conditions, convinced 1,300 Black sanitation workers to strike. For 65 days the men both stayed home and took to the streets, and for 65 days Memphis Mayor Henry Loeb repeated that the strike was illegal and he would not negotiate with strikers until they returned to work. The strike garnered support from The American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME), The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and the NAACP as it continued, eventually bringing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to Memphis. In Memphis, Dr. King gave his prophetic "I've been to the Mountaintop" speech two weeks before he was assassinated on his balcony at the Lorraine Motel.

Dr. King's involvement in the Memphis Sanitation Strike illustrates his commitment to labor justice and his deep critiques of capitalism, two aspects of Dr. King that are not typically represented in elementary school classrooms. As Honey (2007) writes, "The Memphis story provides a window through which we can understand the struggles of the 1960s as well as the deep obstacles to King's dream of a united, peaceful, integrated, democratic America. Yet it is a story that has been almost lost to history. Although many people know King died in Memphis, many don't know what he was doing there; they don't know that he died in a struggle for the right of workers to have a union" (Honey, 2007, p. xvii). By centering this story within an elementary social studies inquiry, students can investigate a more nuanced story of Dr. King's activism, the overlapping struggles of racial justice and labor justice movements, and the power of collective organizing led by ordinary people.

The Inquiry

This inquiry is designed for students in grades 3-5 but could be adapted for younger or older students. Through this inquiry, students will learn about Martin Luther King Jr. and his engagement with the fight for economic justice that led to his assassination. Students will learn about King alongside the 1,300 Black sanitation workers who planned and participated in the Memphis Sanitation Strike. Students will see King as a multilayered player in a larger fight for justice, rather than a heroic speaker with a singular mission to end segregation.

Through this inquiry, students will engage with the Memphis Sanitation Strike through a read-aloud and a four-part primary source investigation. Following the C3 Inquiry Arc, this inquiry follows the four Dimensions of informed inquiry in social studies: (1) developing questions and planning inquiries; (2) applying disciplinary concepts and tools; (3) evaluating sources and using evidence; and (4) communicating conclusions and taking informed action (NCSS, 2013).

First, students will engage with Alice Faye Duncan's (2018) picturebook, Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop. Next, students generate compelling questions (Dimension 1), and will analyze a curated selection of primary sources (Dimensions 2 and 3). The primary sources are organized into four sections: first, working conditions that motivated the strike, second, striking, third, Dr. King's involvement in the strike, and lastly, the impact of the strike. During each section, students will engage with multiple sources and analysis activities. At the end of the inquiry, students will be provided with multiple avenues to communicate their conclusions and/or take informed action (Dimension 4).