WASHINGTON (RNS)—The names Echol Cole and Robert Walker are far less familiar than Martin Luther King Jr. But labor action over harsh working conditions triggered by the deaths of those two African-American sanitation workers prompted the civil rights leader to travel to Memphis, Tenn., where he was assassinated on April 4, 1968.
On Feb. 1, faith leaders joined political and labor officials to mark the anniversary of the 1968 deaths of Cole and Walker, who both had taken cover from a rainstorm inside their garbage truck when its compactor malfunctioned and crushed them.
The city did not give their families enough money to cover their funeral expenses. Their deaths led to a protest in which local strikers from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees carried “I Am a Man” signs.
King joined their cause, visiting the city twice for it. He commended the many clergy who had become involved in it when he preached his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” sermon on April 3, 1968, which would be his last.
The Feb. 1 observance was part of the “I Am 2018” campaign, in which leaders of the Church of God in Christ, the nation’s largest black Pentecostal denomination, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees aim to draw attention to continuing needs for economic and racial justice.
“February 1 was so pivotal in all that took place with the two gentlemen that were killed due to the poor wages and the almost plantation style of work environment that triggered the movement and the strike that ultimately led to Dr. King’s involvement,” said Pastor Linwood Dillard, Church of God in Christ project coordinator for I Am 2018.
He expected dozens of clergy at a Memphis wreath-laying ceremony, including a moment of silence, prayers and a reading from King’s last sermon. Remembrances were planned in dozens of cities, with sanitation workers pulling off roadways and online supporters changing their profile pictures, organizers said.
“Echol Cole and Robert Walker represented the struggle of working people then, and still do today,” said Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. “We honor them and the brave men who took on a racist, rigged system and vow to continue fighting for economic justice for all workers.”
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