Former Memphis sanitation workers ignite memories of Dr. King

http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_17100309

By Brian Charles, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/14/2011 05:20:56 PM PST

COMMERCE - When Alvin Turner decided to join the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers strike organized by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he had his three daughters in mind.

"I fought to make sure I was the last uneducated person in my family," Turner said Friday during a tribute to King.


Honorees Alvin Turner left, and Barter Leach speak at the podium during the Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. breakfast held in Commerce Friday. Mr. Turner and Mr. Leach were two Memphis sanitation strikers in 1968 and were honored at the breakfast for their historic labor and civil rights action.(SGVN/Staff Photo by Walt Mancini)


Turner's fight was not in vain. All three of his daughters hold advanced degrees and one serves as a member of the administration of Spelman College in Atlanta.

Turner, 76, and former co-worker Baxter Leach, 70, were guests of honor at the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast hosted by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Commerce. More than 1,000 labor organizers, union employees and politicos including California

Attorney General Kamala Harris converged on the union hall to celebrate King's legacy.

Turner and Leach were celebrated as heroes by Rev. James Lawson, a civil rights activist and close friend of King.

FULL story at link.