January 18, 2021
Today we commemorate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. When Dr. King was assassinated, he was visiting Memphis, Tennessee, in support of striking sanitation workers organizing with AFSCME (a union that today represents thousands of workers at the University of California) for workplace safety protections after two sanitation workers were killed on the job. King saw the demands of the all-Black sanitation workers for their rights as a racial justice demand, a demand for a recognition of their humanity and right to live. For his support of their struggle, and all his advocacy of civil rights for people of color, MLK was killed.
Striking Memphis sanitation workers, 1968
Throughout his career as a civil rights leader, Dr. King tied together the struggle for racial justice with the struggle for workers rights, and exhorted the labor movement to draw closer with the civil rights movement. In 1961, King addressed the United Auto Workers union at its 25th anniversary dinner:
“Social progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and the persistent work of dedicated individuals. Without this hard work, time itself becomes the ally of the insurgent and primitive forces of social stagnation. So in order to realize the American dream of economic justice and of the brotherhood of man, men and women all over the nation must continue to work for it.”
After this past summer’s Black Lives Matter protests highlighting ongoing police brutality and racist killings, Dr. King’s words ring truer than ever. Just last week, the New York Times reported on a last-minute effort by the Trump Administration to weaken federal anti-discrimination protections, including loosening enforcement of the Civil Rights Act itself. And within higher education, Black researchers are still under-represented and marginalized.
Forming a union is one way Student Researchers can play a role in continuing Dr. King’s legacy. By negotiating for rights such as protections from harassment and discrimination, protections from discriminatory policing, and even higher wages, which will make higher education more accessible to researchers without familial wealth, Student Researchers can make changes at UC that will better serve the needs of marginalized groups and communities.
Respond to this email to get involved, or to learn about other groups on your campus working to improve equity.
In solidarity,
Anh Diep
UC Merced
Quantitative Systems Biology