Andrea Morales Archives - Talk Poverty https://talkpoverty.org/person/andrea-morales/ Real People. Real Stories. Real Solutions. Mon, 05 Mar 2018 19:49:14 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://cdn.talkpoverty.org/content/uploads/2016/02/29205224/tp-logo.png Andrea Morales Archives - Talk Poverty https://talkpoverty.org/person/andrea-morales/ 32 32 See the March That Revived Martin Luther King Jr.’s Poor People’s Campaign https://talkpoverty.org/2018/02/13/see-march-revived-martin-luther-king-jr-s-poor-peoples-campaign/ Tue, 13 Feb 2018 21:51:32 +0000 https://talkpoverty.org/?p=25220 In Memphis yesterday, the Fight for $15 and the new Poor People’s Campaign joined forces to mark the 50th anniversary of the sanitation workers’ strike and march with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Workers came from as far as St. Louis, Chicago, New Orleans, and Boston, as hundreds of people walked the same path to City Hall as their predecessors once did, and issued the same demand: a living wage and the right to form a union.  Workers and activists will continue the campaign in the coming months, with six weeks of direct action and nonviolent civil disobedience beginning on Mother’s Day.

Photographer Andrea Morales was on hand to capture how the day transpired.

Hundreds walk down Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue during the march from Clayborn Temple to Memphis City Hall to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1968 sanitation workers' strike.
Hundreds walk down Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue during the march from Clayborn Temple to Memphis City Hall to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1968 sanitation workers’ strike.
AFSCME Secretary Treasurer Bill Lucy (center), stands between Baxter Leach, one of the sanitation workers who went on strike in 1968 (left), and Rep. Steve Cohen (right) at Clayborn Temple, where marchers gathered.
AFSCME Secretary Treasurer Bill Lucy (center), stands between Baxter Leach, one of the sanitation workers who went on strike in 1968 (left), and Rep. Steve Cohen (right) at Clayborn Temple, where marchers gathered.
Fight For $15 supporters lead chants before the march begins.
Fight For $15 supporters lead chants before the march begins.
Marquisha McKinley and her daughter in the Fight for $15 strike line outside a McDonald's in Midtown Memphis.
Marquisha McKinley and her daughter in the Fight for $15 strike line outside a McDonald’s in Midtown Memphis.
Fists are raised as a moment of silence is called before the march reaches its destination at Memphis City Hall.
Fists are raised as a moment of silence is called before the march reaches its destination at Memphis City Hall.
A couple that traveled with Fight for $15 from St. Louis listens to speakers during the program at Memphis City Hall.
A couple that traveled with Fight for $15 from St. Louis listens to speakers during the program at Memphis City Hall.
A young marcher catches some rest. Many workers and supporters brought their children along to the event.
A young marcher catches some rest. Many workers and supporters brought their children along to the event.
Baxter Leach, a former sanitation worker who was part of the original strike in 1968, is embraced by SEIU President Mary Kay Henry during a program following the march.
Baxter Leach, a former sanitation worker who was part of the original strike in 1968, is embraced by SEIU President Mary Kay Henry during a program following the march.
Rev. Traci Blackmon, a United Church of Christ pastor based in Florissant, Missouri, speaks at City Hall to close out the march. She recalled the workers' deaths that sparked the original strike 50 years ago: "I don't want to stand here and forget Brother Cole and Brother Walker, who died in a garbage truck, crushed to death because the government refused to fix the garbage trucks."
Rev. Traci Blackmon, a United Church of Christ pastor based in Florissant, Missouri, speaks at City Hall to close out the march. She recalled the workers’ deaths that sparked the original strike 50 years ago: “I don’t want to stand here and forget Brother Cole and Brother Walker, who died in a garbage truck, crushed to death because the government refused to fix the garbage trucks.”
]]>