Fight for $15, Movement for Black Lives to Protest Nationwide in Call to Fight Racism, Raise Pay -- Rallies Across 24 Cities to Culminate in Massive March on Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn., Marking Anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther Kings Assassination -- Nations Two Most Powerful Social Movements to Join Forces, Vow to Resist Efforts by GOP Politicians to Crack Down on Protesters with . Sepia Coleman has worked in home care for more than 20 years"yet she has never made more than $8.50 an hour and the hours she gets can change dramatically from month to month. Lately, shes been particularly low on hours, so she often eats only one meal a day. Sepia believes that if you work in healthcare, you should have healthcare benefits and that all home care workers deserve the right to form a union.
. Ashley Cathey, who is from Memphis and will be participating in Tuesdays protest. She is slated to speak at a noon rally and will be MC-ing the action at the Lorraine Motel. Ashley is 28 years old, works two jobs (one at a local fast-food chain, the other at the Memphis Crown Plaza) and has been part of the Fight for $15 for 4 years.
Thousands of workers fighting for 15/hour and union rights will join racial justice activists in the Movement for Black Lives to wage a two-dozen-city Fight Racism, Raise Pay protest Tuesday, the 49th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination and the 50th anniversary of the civil rights icons historic Beyond Vietnam speech.
The coast-to-coast protests will culminate in a march by thousands of workers, national civil rights leaders and politicians on the Lorraine Motel in downtown Memphis, where they'll hold a memorial at the site of Dr. King's assassination. In rallies, marches, vigils and teach-ins across the country, leaders in the Fight for $15 and a Union Movement and for Black Lives Matter will highlight that the push for economic and racial justice remains as deeply linked today as when Dr. King was killed in 1968 supporting striking black sanitation workers in Memphis.
The April 4 protests are the latest wave of defiance against reactionary attacks on working people, people of color, women and immigrants. Just weeks after the November 2016 election, thousands of workers in the Fight for $15 walked off the job from coast to coast and engaged in waves of civil disobedience. The walkouts marked the start of a new era of mass demonstration, including the Womens March and a rash of protests at the nations airports following President Trumps announcement of an immigration ban from predominantly Muslim countries. The April 4 Fight for $15/Movement for Black Lives protests will kick off a wave of protests around the country in the following weeks, including demonstrations calling attention to immigrants' rights, climate change and tax policy that benefits the rich.
The April 4 protests come as Republican lawmakers in more than two-dozen states have introduced legislation aimed at cracking down on protesters like those in the Fight for $15 and the Movement for Black Lives. The marchers will converge in Memphis weeks after a local Fight for $15 worker organization filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city, charging its police department. with widespread illegal surveillance and intimidation to stifle worker protest Rallies on April 4 in Minneapolis, Detroit and Durham will condemn anti-protest legislation proposed by lawmakers in those states.
Dr. King saw a common bond between the labor and civil rights movements and believed that union rights were fundamental to achieving racial justice. As King said in 1961, the two most dynamic and cohesive liberal forces in the country are the labor movement and the Negro freedom movement. Together we can be architects of democracy.
produced by Ken Nash and Mimi Rosenberg
please notify us if you plan to broadcast this program - knash@igc.org
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