The movie «I Am A Man: Dr. King & the Memphis Sanitation Strike» describes the events of 1968, when 1300 sanitation workers began to strike in Memphis, Tennessee. The issues raised in the movie «I Am A Man: Dr. King & the Memphis Sanitation Strike» concern the problem of recognition of the union by the govermental athorities. The events described in the film are not only of national importance, they are in the nature of global significance. We are talking about human rights.
In 1968, Memphis, Tennessee, a group of sanitation workers numbered 1300 people began a strike in order to draw public attention (governmental, especially) to the problem of the difference of the rights between afro-american and white residents of the United States. This strike has attracted attention of not only the public and the Memphis city council but members of the press and the attention of the nation and the armed forces of the United States. According to the words of James Douglas, strike participant, the aim of the strike was to show the city that "because we were sanitation workers, we were human beings" and the strike was conceived as a peacefull protest. This event is remarkable because it was not simply a demand to raise wages to workers or to reduce the number of working hours, it was a manifestation of the social struggle for human rights, which was formed by a union, group of 1300 human beings, which the athorities of the city did not want to deal with. What is remarkable is the fact that the council, willy-nilly, recognized the union and went on to consider their demands for dignity, equality and quality.
According to the Oxford dictionary definition of the union, union is “the action of joining together or the fact of being joined together, especially in a political context”. To me a union is a way to tell or ask for something with people who share your thoughts and beliefs. Such process is a legitimate action and as Dr. Martin Luther King said, “the greatness of America is the right to protest for a right”.
References
Union (n.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. Language Matters. Web. 13 Apr, 2016. Retrieved from:
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/union
atulocal689 (Apr 2008) I Am A Man: Dr. King & the Memphis Sanitation Strike. YouTube
video. 13 Apr, 2016. Retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBDgH435oaU&nohtml5=False
