Analysis Of Laurie B Green's Article 'I Am A Man'

Laurie B. Green from the University of Texas at Austin studies the 1968 Memphis sanitation strike during the Civil Rights Movement in her article,” Race, Gender, and Labor in the 1960’s Memphis: “I AM A MAN” and the Meaning of Freedom”. Laurie Green opens up her article immediately showcasing African American workers carrying signs stating,” I AM A MAN” while on the other side of the sheet stood white national guardsman with their bayonets ready. Green goes onto to explain how that “I AM A MAN” statement was a complex and critical statement against Memphis, 222 showed anger over big city plantation mentality. She goes on to explain how “I AM A MAN” went on to include African American women also, in the fight for rights. Green then argues

Green goes on to give another account of an African American woman named Hazel Mcgee. Mcgee accounts how she went on strike with her husband who was a sanitation worker. Mcgee goes on to explain in her account how white and black women were treated differently. Green ends this section of the article by visiting an interview by an African American woman named Naomi Jones, who explains the sexual harassment that black women received from male supervisors. Jones interview went on to explain went on to explain how black theology shifted to include universal rights of all men.
Green moves her article to black theology. Green argues that black theology gave them a vision of freedom and personal salvation. After the summary of black theology, Green focuses her article back to the Civil Rights Movement of 1964. She explains how Title IX was pushed back a year until 1965. In the Memphis area, companies pushed back against the Title IX regulations and many complaints were filed against them. Green goes on to explain how African Americans had a hard time getting hired or promoted, including skilled African American workers. This goes on to give sanitation workers more

Mayor Loeb to violence. During a march, a woman said that a police car ran over her foot. This caused the strikers to start shaking the car. This caused cops to start macing, clubbing, and chasing down strikers. One of the strikers that was maced was Reverend Jackson. Jackson was able to empower more and minister to the community leaders to get behind the strike. Green goes on to explain how Martin Luther King’s assassination sparked riots. After all of the incidents President Johnson’s Secretary of Labor , convinced Mayor Loeb to recognize the Sanitation Workers Union, which ended the strike. Green’s article ends with her stating the importance of the slogan “I AM A MAN” to African American men and