In 1968, Clayborn Temple, an African Methodist Episcopal congregation, became headquarters for the Memphis sanitation workers’ strike, which began when two African American sanitation workers were killed in an accident on a city truck. Starting in February, nearly 1,000 sanitation workers marched twice daily from the church to City Hall carrying signs declaring “I AM A MAN.” In the evenings, hundreds of strikers, their families and supporters filled the sanctuary for inspirational speeches.
Arriving in Memphis to lead a march planned for April 5, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel on April 4, 1968. On April 16, the sanitation workers gathered at Clayborn Temple and accepted terms, which ended the strike.
I am a Man Plaza was dedicated on April 5, 2018, in what had become an abandoned parking lot adjacent to the Clayborn Temple. on the 50th anniversary of the strike.
The central sculpture is comprised of 15’ tall stainless steels letters forming the iconic phrase I AM A MAN. Quotes and speeches from prominent civil rights leaders are included in various components of the built environment supporting the sculpture, as well as on the letters themselves. The central I AM A MAN letters are reflective, urging viewers to see themselves as part of the structure, and therefore, part of the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement.
Bordering the plaza is a marble wall with the names of the 1,300 sanitation workers who participated in the 1968 strike. Inside the dedicatory wall, on the pavement are the dates and descriptions of significant events that led up to the strike and took place during it.
Cliff Garten and his studio led a design team with Memphis-based landscape architect John Jackson of JPA, Inc. for the memorial plaza. Local spoken word artist Steve Fox held an open dialogue with the greater Memphis community, who through a series of public workshops organized by the UrbanArt Commission, selected pertinent historical text and created an original contemporary text that is etched into the marble gates to the plaza’s entry. The $1.5 million cost was funded with public and private money.
