Sound & Color: MLGW hoax, 1968 sanitation workers speak out

Audio coverage brings Memphis events and neighborhoods to life. For more multimedia content, subscribe the High Ground News Sound & Color newsletter.

Fifty years after sanitation workers in Memphis went on strike for better working conditions, Mayor Strickland and the Memphis City Council have decided to make some changes. Baxter Leach, who was on of the workers who took part in the strike, weighs in on the $50,000 grants for surviving members of the historic strike. 

“Some other people said that’s not enough for us, saying they should give us $250,000 or $100,000, $150,000 … $50,000 is not enough," said Leach. "For retirement, I don’t get nothing but social security.  But $400, $300 a month. That’s all I get.”

For more information about the grants, read Fifty years later, sanitation workers see fruit of their labor with addition of retirement benefits.



After an Internet rumor and a computer glitch, MLGW kiosks temporarily shut down as customers finished paying their bills. Additionally, MLGW hopes to help low-income customers make their homes more energy efficient through an expanded program. The kiosks have since been reactivated and customers have been refunded for the $2 convenience fee charged at paying bills at the kiosk.



Five years after its founding, Thistle & Bee hires five women from the Memphis area. The organization's goal is to provide employment and a sense of community for victims of sex trafficking. 

Enjoy this story? Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.

Read more articles by Molly Mulroy.

Molly Mulroy is a recent graduate with a B.A. from Loyola University New Orleans. A native Memphian, she's had a long-standing interest in social justice issues and enjoys storytelling in any form. Her recent podcast Outside covers the stories of four formerly incarcerated people from Louisiana and their struggles with reentry.