Displaying items by tag: MLK Day
Wednesday, 11 January 2012 13:26

MLK Day 2012: 5 Reasons Dr. King Would Be Fighting Environmental Racism in Tennessee

January 16, 2012 marks the 25th anniversary of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. federal holiday. Dr. King was called to Memphis in April 1968 on an environmental and economic justice mission on behalf of 1,300 striking garbage workers from AFSCME Local 1733. The Memphis struggle was about much more than a garbage strike. It was also about human dignity and human rights.  Memphis was Dr. King's last campaign.  However, his legacy lives on in modern day garbage and environmental justice struggles. If Dr. King were alive today there is a good chance the 83-year-old civil rights icon would be standing side-by-side with the African American Harry Holt family in Dickson County, Tennessee, located just 160 miles east of Memphis, whose 150-acre farmland and well were poisoned with the deadly trichloroethylene (TCE) chemical from the leaky Dickson County Landfill, located just 54 feet from the family's property line.

Published in Dr. Bullard Blog