Jackson library hosts activists from historic Memphis sanitation strike

JACKSON, Tenn. — Two sanitation workers who were working in Memphis during the time that Martin Luther King Jr. was killed continued their visit to the Hub City on Thursday.

Baxter Leach and Alvin Turner are in Jackson taking part in the Jackson-Madison County Library’s “From Memphis to the Mountaintop: The March to Manhood” celebration of Black History Month.

The two talked about their experiences and memories of the Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike in 1968 and the conditions they were experiencing on the job.

“He didn’t come for the sanitation workers. He came for everybody — white, blue, pink. It didn’t matter what color it was. He came here for us,” Leach said.

Library officials and Friends of the Library say the program was held out of respect for the bravery and sacrifice that continues to improve conditions for all citizens.