Summary
In early 1968 the grisly on-the-job deaths of two African-American sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, prompted an extended strike by that city's segregated force of trash collectors. Workers sought union protection, higher wages, improved safety, and the integration of their work force. Their work stoppage became a part of the larger civil rights movement and drew an impressive array of national movement leaders to Memphis, including, on more than one occasion, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
King added his voice to the struggle in what became the final speech of his life. His assassination in Memphis on April 4 not only sparked protests and violence throughout America; it helped force the acceptance of worker demands in Memphis. The sanitation strike ended eight days after King's death. The connection between the Memphis sanitation strike and King's death has not received the emphasis it deserves, especially for younger readers. Marching to the Mountaintop explores how the media, politics, the Civil Rights Movement, and labour protests all converged to set the scene for one of King's greatest speeches and for his tragic death.
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Published Reviews
Booklist Review:
"Bausum offers an inspiring glimpse of the civil rights movement and the power of nonviolent resistance through an examination of the Memphis sanitation workers' strike in 1968. It all started in February, when two public workers were crushed to death by a faulty garbage truck. Festering tensions over unfair pay, the impossibility of promotion, and job safety boiled over, and African American workers went on strike. As the spring wore on and mountains of garbage grew in city streets, silent protests and picket lines were organized. Students familiar with the civil rights movement will know that this historical episode had a tragic ending, the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. The book's sharp design features a pictorial cast of characters to aid visually minded readers, and the photographs of hundreds of workers in the streets, armed with signs reading I am a man, leave a moving impression. A lyrical foreword by King's friend and associate, the Reverend James Lawson, is included, and the amply stocked back matter includes a detailed time line, accounts of eight of King's notable campaigns, and thorough source citations.--Anderson, Erin Copyright 2010 Booklist"
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Additional Information
| Subjects |
King, Martin Luther,
-- Jr.,
-- 1929-1968
-- Juvenile literature.
King, Martin Luther,
-- Jr.,
-- 1929-1968
-- Assassination
-- Juvenile literature.
King, Martin Luther,
-- Jr.,
-- 1929-1968.
King, Martin Luther,
-- Jr.,
-- 1929-1968
-- Assassination.
Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, Tenn., 1968
-- Juvenile literature.
Labor movement
-- Tennessee
-- Memphis
-- History
-- 20th century
-- Juvenile literature.
African Americans
-- Tennessee
-- Memphis
-- Social conditions
-- 20th century
-- Juvenile literature.
Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, Tenn., 1968.
Labor movement
-- Tennessee
-- Memphis
-- History
-- 20th century.
African Americans
-- Tennessee
-- Memphis
-- Social conditions
-- 20th century.
Memphis (Tenn.)
-- Race relations
-- History
-- 20th century
-- Juvenile literature.
Memphis (Tenn.)
-- Race relations
-- History
-- 20th century.
|
| Publisher |
Washington, D.C. :National Geographic,2012
|
| Language |
English
|
| Description |
104 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 29 cm
|
| Bibliography Notes |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 101-102) and index.
|
| ISBN |
9781426309397 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1426309392 (hardcover : alk. paper)
9781426309403 (library binding : alk. paper)
1426309406 (library binding : alk. paper)
|
| Other |
Classic View |
