“Drawn There Like Candles—Fireflies to the Light”: A Underrated Cause Amongst the Civil Rights Movement
Search terms: fireflies + 1968 sanitation strike + memphis sanitation worker strike + mlk+ sanitation strike + i am a man strike
Striking members of Memphis Local 1733 hold signs whose slogan symbolized the sanitation workers' 1968 campaign.
As pondered upon the focus for the “Insect/bug” blog post, I wanted to come from a place of complex understanding. I didn’t want to just tackle the literal and simple presence of bugs as it relates to the Black experience but wanted to cover the layers of the Black experiences, both negatively and positively, within the HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Starting with the search term “fireflies”, I discovered the story of the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike, and the dehumanization and emasculation of Black men garbage workers of that time, reminding me of a treatment compared to that of the nuisance of a fly.
Searching up the term “fireflies”, I discovered the interview of HistoryMaker Fred Davis, an Insurance entrepreneur and city council member Fred Davis (1934 - 2020) who was a Memphis city council member during 1968 sanitation workers strike. Though I had never heard of his name, I listened to his video on him describing his role as a city councilor in a strike I had never heard of called the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike. I listened to the story intently even though my first thought, was not to center my blog post around it. “This won’t be interesting”, I thought, “ Ms. Richardson wants a compelling story”. Then— I checked myself, realizing not only is there a reason his story is here but as I listened to his story of passion and got to the excerpt where he mentioned fireflies, I knew this was a narrative I wanted to cover that was compelling to me.
March 18, 1975 - City Councilman Fred Davis (left) makes a point during a council meeting on March 18, 1975. At right are fellow council members Gwen Awsumb and Bob James. Davis, an insurance executive, left the council in 1979 after serving for 12 years.
Fred Davis describes his role as a city councilor during the 1969 Memphis sanitation workers’ strike:
“When [William B.] Ingram was elected [mayor of Memphis, Tennessee], he did something for every segment of government except the sanitation workers and the sanitation workers were the ones who were most vocal in his support.
Now there was no question that the grievances of these men were very, very real.”
“Now it wasn't just the pay they were grieving about?
That's right, you know, working conditions it was, it was terrible.
I've read that there were no facilities for them to wash up--
It was terrible.”
“Yes. Well, yeah, the, the, the workforce-- the drivers were white, but the workforce was black. And people, you know, just kind of saw them as garbage men, I mean, these are the garbage men. They didn't see them as-- well, we didn't see them as, as necessarily deacons in our church, grandfathers, fathers, you know, everything everybody else is, because you just kind of see them and take them for granted. “
“So, prior to that a worker had gotten crushed in a packer and there was no insurance or worker's compensation for him, there's no question.”
“The sanitation workers were having an organizing meeting and a rally out at the Firestone Labor Hall. They sent buses out there and got about twelve hundred people and packed them in a room that has the capacity for about six hundred. And then the fun started. There were all of these fellow travelers. The people were from various walks of life, preachers and hospital workers and wherever, who were drawn there like candles--fireflies to the light because the television cameras were on and everybody wanted to get his day in the sun. It really turned out to be a fiasco.”
I am personally drawn to colloquialisms, especially of the South, so when hearing Fred Davis describe the passion and commitment that ensued for the cause of the Sanitation Workers’ Strike, all from various walks of life, to push forward ONE cause, reminded me of the phrase “like moths to a flame”, I knew, whether I previously knew of it or not, this was a cause to learn about.
The 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike was caused by the wrongful death, by a malfunctioning truck of two Memphis garbage men, Echol Cole and Robert Walker, who were crushed to death on their jobs as sanitation workers in the city of Memphis. Led by this atrocity, amongst poor daily treatment, poor living conditions, living wages, and poor social treatment, an estimated 1,300 Black men of the Memphis Department of Public Works went on strike., taking place from February 12th to April 16th.
Marchers supporting the sanitation workers’ strike pass through downtown Memphis, March 29, 1968.
Thinking about the vastness of the HistoryMakers Digital Archive, when using the search term “1968 Memphis sanitation strike”, amongst others, I came up with only 27-50 stories that directly targeted this story, which, as a Historian, motivated me more to cover this story. Through that I also came upon the narrative of HistoryMaker Reverend Samuel “Billy” Kyles, a Civil rights activist and pastor (1934-2016), who was witness to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He also spoke vividly on the Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike of 1968.
“Their leadership came out of their own ranks, which I thought was tremendous that these men at the lowest rung of the economic ladder and educational would stand up against the man in Memphis, Tennessee in 1968. That was very powerful, very powerful. And they have a sign that they would wear. It didn't say peace, it didn't say freedom, it didn't say justice. All it said was, "I am a man," because they were treated less than men.”
‘“They could work the whole month and still qualify for welfare, they made such little wages. They handle garbage all day, they had nowhere to wash for lunch, had no rest area for restrooms, unless somebody on the route would let them use the restroom they had--there were just out there.”
“Very often, the tubs would have holes in them. If you put something in your garbage that was liquid and didn't have a container, that stuff would run down on them when they would put it on their heads.”
"Reverend Kyles, don't think that we don't appreciate what people do for us." He said, "But I'm a grown man, I haven't had a coat to fit me since I been a man."
Bishop Julian Smith (left) and Rev. Ralph Abernathy (right) flank Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., during a civil rights march in Memphis on March 28, 1968. Jack Thornell/AP
Not only did the strike catch the attention of those in the city, from other workers to political officials, but it was also noticed and physically supported by Dr. Martin Luther King, who marched alongside the Memphis garbage workers in support of better wages, working conditions, and other securities. HistoryMaker, William Lucy (1933-) , a Civil rights activist, labor activist, and union leader, spoke on Dr. King’s contributions to this “underdog” of a cause, causing more coverage:
“So Martin Luther King, Jr. [Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.] made at least three trips to Memphis [Tennessee] during that sixty-four day strike [Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike]. You were starting to describe his first speech in March of that year. Tell me about that.
Well, I, I think as, as, as Dr. King analyzed what was going on, that he became very, you know, understanding that this was sort of the classic confrontation, I mean between workers who worked every day, but yet, as I said, qualified for welfare benefits and, and that the system would not allow them to do any more than that. And, and he felt very strongly and identified with them, with their desire to have a union.”
Surely not just a witness to the growing movement and King’s efforts to create change, Lucy was a force within the community, who coined the infamous phrase “I AM A MAN”, a phrase known widely within the Civil Rights Movement, used to spotlight the emasculation of Black men, denying them rights to better wages and better working conditions.
”So we came up with that, those four words, "I Am a Man." And while it means different things I'm sure to different people, to this whole effort, it, it meant that I'm--I want--I'm standing up for my rights; I will speak out; I am speaking back to someone who I have historically held fear of; and I'm, I'm confronting the system. And I'm, I'm not asking for a whole lot, just to be treated with respect and dignity.”
“And Jim Lawson [James Lawson] at a community meeting you know, one night says--and there's a video out there says that when the mayor or some person tells you what you're gonna do, and you must do it, that's not treating you like a man; that's treating you like a child, or something like that. And the essence of racism is when you treat a man if he's not a ma- as if he's not a man.”
He also spoke on the concerns of the Memphis sanitation workers, recalling a meeting at the municipal auditorium, where the men of strike voiced their concerns to Mayor Henry Loeb.
“And he proceeded to give them the 1920 logic of, you know, I, I know every one of y'all. I know your daddy. And you can always come to me, and you could come to me now, and that, that kind of silly stuff, and that, you, you know I'd, I'd, I'd give you the shirt off my back. And I said to myself as I sat there, I said, this got to be the dumbest guy I have ever ran into. And somebody in the audience stood up and said, "Well, I, I don't want the shirt off your back. Give me a decent wage, and I'll buy my own shirt."“
“they, they, now they had not been home yet, so they had come straight from the public works yard to this meeting.
they have probably just made the biggest decision they have ever made in their lives, and they're not gonna be told like your, your, your children.”
On March 29, 1968, more than 3,800 National Guard troops moved into Memphis after rioting and looting, the day before, left historic Beale Street and Main Street cluttered with broken glass and bricks.
Learning about this movement, brought forth so much emotion and clarity as it pertains to the socioeconomic hierarchy not only within the larger society but also within the Black community. Because these men were subjected to such poor working conditions coupled with their job description, they were treated like relics on many occasions, like that of a gnat in the kitchen. These men, wearing signs that read “I AM A MAN”, had to remind those in the power of not only their masculinity but also their humanity by depriving themselves of the source that fed their family and themselves, to create a better life for themselves, ending with a settlement that included union recognition and wage increase. To the greater Memphis community powered by white supremacy, these men’s gumption was the bug, they were the insect that didn’t seem to go away, and for recognition of their humanity and masculinity, they wouldn’t.
To end with a simple, but powerful quote on the treatment of these men, HistoryMaker Maxine Smith (1929-2013), who was an Executive secretary, foreign languages professor, civil rights activist, and state government employee spoke on the matter.
”But we do, we are all products of our society, and, at some point we have to break it, break through, I ain't gonna take this no more, I ain't gonna take this no more.”
Sources:
Fred Davis (The HistoryMakers A2003.140), interviewed by Larry Crowe, June 23, 2003, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 4, story 5, Fred Davis describes his role as a city councilor during the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers strike, pt. 1
Fred Davis (The HistoryMakers A2003.140), interviewed by Larry Crowe, June 23, 2003, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 4, story 2, Fred Davis talks about the beginning of the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers strike
Reverend Samuel Billy Kyles (The HistoryMakers A2003.029), interviewed by Larry Crowe, February 13, 2003, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 4, story 5, Reverend Samuel "Billy" Kyles describes the Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike of 1968
William Lucy (The HistoryMakers A2008.001), interviewed by Larry Crowe, May 1, 2012, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 2, tape 12, story 3, William Lucy describes the creation of the labor movement slogan, 'I Am a Man'
William Lucy (The HistoryMakers A2008.001), interviewed by Larry Crowe, May 1, 2012, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 2, tape 11, story 1, William Lucy recalls the concerns of the Memphis sanitation workers
Maxine Smith (The HistoryMakers A2010.094), interviewed by Larry Crowe, July 30, 2010, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 5, story 7, Maxine Smith talks about the Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike
William Lucy (The HistoryMakers A2008.001), interviewed by Cheryl Butler, January 29, 2008, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 5, story 1, William Lucy recalls Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech in Memphis, Tennessee