; Whereas that ultimatum was rejected by AFSCME International President Jerry Wurf, with the support of the NAACP; Whereas, on February 25, 1968, members of the clergy throughout the city of Memphis called upon their congregations to boycott and march in solidarity with the legitimate demands of the sanitation workers; Whereas, on March 5, 1968, members of the clergy announced that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., had responded favorably to their plea to come to Memphis and support the cause of the striking sanitation workers; Whereas, on March 28, 1968, Dr. King led a peaceful protest march from Clayborn Temple to city hall that was disrupted by local police using nightsticks, mace, tear gas, and gunfire, resulting in the death of 16-year-old Larry Payne, injuries to 60 persons, and the arrest of 280 demonstrators; Whereas in the aftermath of the violence, 4,000 National Guardsmen were deployed to Memphis and a 7 p.m. curfew was imposed, which was lifted three days later on April 1, 1968; Whereas, on April 3, 1968, Dr. King returned to Memphis and delivered his famous I’ve Been to the Mountaintop speech, which unknown to the world at that time would turn out to be the final address of his life; Whereas in that address, Dr. King exhorted those in attendance to remain steadfast for justice, stating: Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation. ; Whereas, on April 4, 1968, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was felled by an assassin’s bullet while he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis; Whereas the dreamer may have been murdered, but the dream did not die, nor did the commitment of people of goodwill—fighting so that justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream