Record: the document says itPattern: documents line upLens: our readingOpen: not yet provenDisputed: argued, often by a hostile witness
Year: 1968 · Places: Tennessee, Africa
SUMMARYMemphis sanitation strike, 1968: I AM A MAN (Nov 8, 2026; TANASI line research). WEAK
SOURCEonly Wikipedia opened
RECORD (Wikipedia, "Memphis sanitation strike," citing Honey, Going Down Jericho Road, 2007; Estes, Labor History, 2000)Echol Cole and Robert Walker "were crushed to death in a garbage compactor where they were taking shelter from the rain" on February 1, 1968; "The Memphis sanitation strike began on February 12, 1968"; "more than 1,300 African American men from the Memphis Department of Public Works" (elsewhere "930 of 1100" stayed out on Feb. 12); AFSCME Local 1733, formed by T. O. Jones in November 1964; Rev. James Lawson, Feb. 24: "You are men. You deserve dignity."; King spoke April 3 and was killed April 4; "The strike ended on April 16, 1968, with a settlement that included union recognition and wage increases."
PATTERNtwo men dead in the city's own truck; the answer was a four-word sign
DISPUTEDworker count (1,300 vs 1,100)
LENS (WW9)I AM A MAN is a receipt the workers wrote themselves; a design may echo the placard's plain block style without copying a protected photo
OPENwho designed and printed the placards (Honey); the Memphis Commercial Appeal and Tri-State Defender for Feb. 1–2, 1968; AFSCME's archive (Wayne State, "I Am A Man" project) for primary documents. Connects: P869, P872.