Film honoring MLK "At the River I Stand"

ANSWER Activist Meeting & Film in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.

“At the River I Stand”

Join us for a film showing and discussion of the life of Martin Luther King Jr. and the struggle for civil rights. Get involved in the movement against war and racism—Find out how you can volunteer!

In 1968, Memphis's 1300 sanitation workers formed the lowest caste of a deeply racist society, earning so little they qualified for welfare. In the film, At the River I Stand, retired workers recall the threats they faced as they took on the entire white power structure when they struck for higher wages and union recognition.

But local civil rights leaders and the Black community soon realized the strike was a struggle for economic justice for all African Americans. Stirring historical footage shows the community mobilizing behind the strikers, organizing mass demonstrations and an Easter boycott of downtown businesses. One day a placard appeared on the picket lines which in its radical simplicity summed up the meaning of the strike: "I am a man."

In March, Martin Luther King Jr. came to Memphis as part of his "Poor People's Campaign" to expand the civil rights agenda to the economy. The film recreates the controversies between King's advisors, local leaders, and younger militants which led to open conflict. King felt obliged to return to Memphis to complete a nonviolent march despite the by-now feverish racial tensions. The film recaptures the driving sense of foreboding as King delivered his final "I have been to the mountain-top" speech. The next day, April 4. 1968, he was assassinated. 56 minutes, 1993.