There was a march in Ft. Myers on Monday.

Ft. Myers has a population of about 65,000. The crowd that marched was estimated by police to be over 75,000…

The CIW was there. The march was triggered by the passage of the “Sensenbrenner Bill” by the House, a bill that would make it a felony to be an undocumented immigrant, and would effectively criminalize any contact by citizens or documented immigrants with those who are undocumented.

But the 75,000 people didn’t leave work and join this historic march just to say “no” to a bad piece of legislation.

Rather, this, like the hundreds of marches like it around the country bringing millions out into the streets, was a march for the fundamental right to be recognized as a human being, for dignity, for respect — to be, and to be embraced as, part of the broader society to which millions of immigrants contribute every day with their undervalued labor, from toiling in the fields to building this country’s tallest skyscrapers.

The CIW, as a leading voice for immigrant workers nationally, did its part in making farmworkers from Immokalee a key force in the Ft. Myers action. Starting early in the morning, the parking lot outside the CIW headquarters was converted from its usual function as a vast labor pool for agriculture into a gathering place for justice, as local crewleaders pitched in to lend 15 buses and drivers to take CIW members to the march.

The CIW’s community radio station, Radio Conciencia (or ” La Tuya,” as it is called by its popular nickname…), dedicated hours of programming to promoting the action in the days leading up to the march, contributing to the groundswell of support in the Spanish-speaking media that turned an issue that traditionally has been debated only inside the beltway into a movement that touched millions across the country.

The CIW’s messages for this march were straightforward, and deeply rooted in the CIW’s decade-long struggle.

This bus, puilling out to lead the caravan to Ft. Myers, carried the message that perfectly tied the Campaign for Fair Food to the march for fair immigration policies: “Reward Work.”

And this one, “Amnesty Now” — the demand of marchers across the country. While politicians and advocates talk of compromises with the far-right, anti-immigrant forces, those marching in unprecedented numbers across the nation are clearly calling for amnesty and the same rights all Americans enjoy in return for the work they do.

The caravan finally pulled out around 12:30pm, a column of buses, trucks, vans, and cars that emptied out Immokalee and carried the CIW’s voice to join tens of thousands more in a “grito” that was heard around the world.

After parking at the gathering place in Ft. Myers, the CIW contingent marched as one to the rally…

… where they arrived in an impressive sea of blue shirts that wound its way into the rally in a seemingly unending stream…

… filing into a corner of the rally crowd and forming an animated, unified block that, for the rest of the rally leading up to the march, was addressed simply as “Immokalee” by speakers from the stage.

As if to welcome the CIW contingent, this sign greeted us as we arrived.

The CIW block listened as speakers addressed the rally…

… including the CIW’s own Lucas Benitez, who gave a rousing speech, paraphrasing Martin Luther King from the March on Washington, drawing the link between the two historic mobilizations with the question, “When will we be satisfied? We will not be satisfied, and we will never be satisfied, until our labor is paid a fair price and our place in this society is assured!”

The rally was MC’ed, appropriately, by local radio personalities who were the true movers behind the unprecedented numbers at the march. As has been the case from Chicago to LA and on this day in Ft. Myers, the Spanish-language media have given this movement support unlike any other in memory, making each march fuel for the next and giving workers who have for decades suffered in fear the couage necessary to take to the streets. And a newly formed immigrant rights organization from Arcadia, Florida, named Latino Immigrants United of Florida (ILUF), their leadership here in blue shirts and white pants, did much of the heavy lifting behind the logistics for the march.

Finally, it was time for the march to begin, and the CIW contingent melded into the crowd. As the march began, the 10,000 gathered at the rally hit the streets, where the crowd swelled to more than 75,000, a sea of humanity pouring in from side streets and joining the march after walking several miles just to get to the starting point from where they parked their cars.

For the party that passed the bill that triggered this “marvelous new militancy” (to borrow another MLK phrase…) in the Latino community — a militancy gripping immigrant and citizen alike — this sign couldn’t have been too encouraging, especially in a battleground state like Florida…

… though, as movements come and movements go, there are some votes they can always count on, like this sad young man left to look on in silence as tens of thousands of the people he hates marched past his home…

But no confederate flag — and not even this (surely sweltering) SWAT team member armed to the teeth for a non-violent march that ended without one arrest — could dampen the spirits of the marchers on this day…

… whose conviction in the justice of their demands, and commitment to see them through, gave these marchers the chance to be part of history on this day in Ft. Myers.