Memphis & Martin Luther King – “They Wouldn’t Treat Me Like A Man”  

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I Have A Dream

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Celebrating iconic black artists on the anniversary of Martin Luther King's famous speech.

A celebration of the music and culture of Black artists on BBC Radio 2, marking the anniversary of Dr Martin Luther King's iconic 'I Have A Dream' speech.

A celebration of the music and culture of Black artists on BBC Radio 2, marking the anniversary of Dr Martin Luther King's iconic "I Have A Dream" speech - the defining moment in America's Civil Rights Movement.

I Have A Dream: Memphis & Martin Luther King  - Episode 2

Memphis & Martin Luther King - "They Wouldn't Treat Me Like a Man"

Memphis & Martin Luther King  - Episode 2

BBC Radio 2 - I Have A Dream, Memphis & Martin Luther King  - Episode 2

An oral history of events surrounding the assassination of Martin Luther King in Memphis.

Clive Myrie introduces an oral history of events surrounding the assassination of Martin Luther King in Memphis in 1968

Clive Myrie with a  4 part series presenting  a unique look at the events leading up to, surrounding & following the assassination of Martin Luther King in Memphis in 1968. 

This episode looks at the desegregation of schools & colleges & the start of the era-defining strike by local sanitation workers campaigning under the slogan "I Am A Man"

Dr King came to Memphis to support that strike, & for the first time those workers and their families tell their own stories, laying bare in often shocking detail the realities of the Civil Rights struggle in the Southern states. 

We'll hear first hand of the daily humiliations of the Jim Crow South, of the hope that Dr King brought & of the fallout from his death, the mistakes, the triumphs & what that era means for Memphis today, with testimony from people like:

The sanitation worker beaten daily by police and too scared to go to hospital to have his wounds healed - why did he strike?  "They wouldn't treat me like a man"

The teacher arrested on a daily basis for attempting to break the colour bar in Memphis restaurants

The man who at 6 was the first black child in Memphis to attend a white school, the trauma of which has followed him into adult life, and the grandmother who did the same at Memphis State University and whose family were harassed on a daily basis as a result.

The pastor & councilman who was targeted & almost beaten to death by police on a march to support the sanitation workers.


The musicians & staff of Stax records, including Steve Cropper, Booker T Jones & CEO Al Bell who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to support Civil Rights & who supplied the soundtrack for the struggle.

This programme was originally broadcast in 2018, to mark the 50th anniversary of Dr. King's assassination.

Amazing music. Played by an amazing line up.

Radio 2: Amazing music. Played by an amazing line-up. The home of great music, entertainment and documentaries

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