LAS VEGAS, NV – At a labor luncheon hosted as part of the NAACP’s national convention, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) President Lee Saunders delivered a speech on the importance of civic activism, especially in this critical election year.
During the event, William “Bill” Lucy — a key organizer of the 1968 Memphis Sanitation strike and former secretary-treasurer of AFSCME — was awarded the prestigious NAACP Inaugural Legacy Award, which he accepted via video. In his speech that followed, AFSCME President Saunders outlined the historic organizing work Lucy did to build lasting bridges between civil rights and labor rights:
“At the age of 34, [Bill Lucy] was AFSCME’s representative on the ground during the 1968 Memphis Sanitation strike. Thirteen hundred Black men represented by AFSCME Local 1733 had walked off the job to protest poverty wages and degrading working conditions. This wasn’t just about getting paid a few more cents an hour, as Bill Lucy has often said. This was about dignity and respect. It wasn’t just about recognition of their union, but recognition of their basic humanity. That was reflected in their iconic slogan that Bill helped develop — four simple but powerful words: I AM A MAN.”
Saunders also honored the memory of the late Rev. James Lawson, who passed away in June and was instrumental in persuading Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to join the striking workers in Memphis:
“Thanks to visionaries like Bill and Rev. Lawson, there has been meaningful progress on civil ri
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