The Sanitation Strike Of 1968

Author: Alice Faye Duncan
Illustrator: R. Gregory Christie
Publisher: Calkins Creek; Illustrated edition (August 2018)

  • Approx. Word Count: 3060
  • Pages:  40
  • Ages: 9 – 12
  • Grades: 4 – 6

My Thoughts

This story is told through the eyes of 9-year-old Lorraine Jackson, who recounts her days as a child during the days
of the Memphis Sanitation Strike. She also relates how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. became involved in the strike and
that he was murdered as he stood on his balcony at the Memphis motel.

It is broken up into small segments with headings. The first is sanitation workers (who are mostly black) and
their unhappiness with the poor working conditions and unsafe equipment.

Several Memphis garbage trucks were old and unsafe. The trucks were not maintained.
According to my daddy, a packer blade malfunctioned, crushing his friends.
Daddy told Mama, “It ain’t right to die like that.”

And with those deaths began the unrest over their treatment, lack of decent wages, poor equipment, and the feeling
that no one would take their concerns seriously.

“When they could take the abuse no more, 1,300 men deserted their garbage barrels. They organized a labor strike on February 12, 1968.”

The struggle continues even after Dr. King is killed. His wife, Coretta Scott King, flies to Memphis, committed to
continuing her husband’s work helping the sanitation strike with a nonviolent march.

The back page of the book has a timeline that is extremely helpful.

My Concerns

Though many of the illustrations are quite good, some looked ill-proportioned.
I also wasn’t a fan of the title of the book. It’s too wordy and hard to remember and it felt more like the book was about the sanitation strike. (Both are very small concerns!)

Final Thoughts

5 STARS

The story is broken up into small segments that make it very child-friendly and easy to comprehend. The information is quite informative and easy to follow.

 
Alice Faye Duncan

 

BIG DREAMS require long seasons to be born.  It took ten years to write Memphis, Martin and the Mountaintop.  Combing through Dr. King’s life across the decade, I gained wisdom that impacted my writing and worldview. I call this education—5 Lessons from the Mountaintop.

 

R. Gregory Christie is an Atlanta-based children’s book illustrator with over 20 years of experience and more than 60 books to his credit. He currently freelances and owns GAS-ART Gifts (Gregarious Art Statements)  a mobile autographed children’s bookstore that offers services to groups and institutions. Mr. Christie is a Caldecott honoree, seven-time recipient of the Coretta Scott King honor and a NAACP image Award winner.

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