Martin Luther King's final speech in Memphis given the night before he was murdered in 1968 -- the 'I've been to the mountaintop' speech -- is well-remembered, but King's speech to the striking sanitation workers given a couple of weeks before his death was one of his most impassioned defenses of labor and collective action. Here is some of what Dr. King had to say:
(audio) “You are demanding that this city will respect the dignity of labor. So often we overlook the work and the significance of those who are not in professional jobs, of those who are not in the so-called big jobs. But let me say to you tonight, that whenever you are engaged in work that serves humanity and is for the building of humanity, it has dignity, and it has worth. One day our society must come to see this. One day our society will come to respect the sanitation worker if it is to survive, for the person who picks up our garbage, in the final analysis, is as significant as the physician, for if he doesn’t do his job, diseases are rampant. All labor has dignity.” In today’s labor history, on this date in 1986, Bruce Springsteen's "My Hometown," a eulogy for dying industrial cities, was the country’s most listened-to song… Now Main Street's whitewashed windows and vacant stores Seems like there ain't nobody wants to come down here no more They're closing down the textile mill across the railroad tracks Foreman says these jobs are going boys and they ain't coming back to your hometown Your hometown, your hometown, your hometown . . . Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Hey, if you’re looking for to ways manage your credit better in 2020, check out the Union Plus Credit & Budget Counseling program, which offers advice especially designed for union members. And you can get started with a FREE credit analysis session! To find out more, visit unionplus.org/creditcounseling.
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