Photographer Ernest C. Withers’s iconic image shows a line of Black sanitation workers on strike in Memphis, Tennessee, on March 28, 1968. The signs they hold proclaim “I Am a Man.” As Jesse Epps, a labor official and civil rights activist, explained, “With that sign we changed the idea that these garbage workers were gluttons making unfair demands. It was clear that these were men whose dignity and respect and manhood was being preyed upon.” 

The sanitation workers were striking because of racially based unfair and unsafe working conditions that had led to the deaths of two employees. Martin Luther King, Jr. came to Memphis to show his support for the strike. He would deliver his famous “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech to the strikers on April 3. The next day, he was assassinated.

Withers, who was Black, documented many of the most important events of the civil rights era. His insightful images had a wide impact, helping to enact social change. This made it even more shocking when in 2010, three years after Withers’s death, evidence emerged that he had spent time on the payroll of the FBI, providing information to J. Edgar Hoover on civil rights events and leaders, including King.

Ernest C. Withers (American, 1922–2007), I Am a Man, from the portfolio I Am a Man. Gelatin silver print, March 28, 1968 (printed 1994). 15 15/16 × 19 13/16 in. (40.5 × 50.3 cm). Mrs. George W. Stevens Fund, 2003.46a. Not on view.

Image Description: This is a black-and-white photograph showing a large group of Black men standing in rows facing the camera, most holding white signs with black letters reading “I Am a Man.” They are standing in a street, spanning its width and onto the sidewalk on their left (our right). Many of the men wear suits, while others are dressed more casually; all wear hats, mostly fedoras, according to the fashion of the late 1960s. The photo is taken from enough of a distance to include as many of the men as possible.