UPDATE 2/24 - TRUTH TOUR RALLY SHAPING UP TO BE A REAL MUSICAL HAPPENING!... As workers in Immokalee pack their bags and prepare to hit the road, artists are getting into gear as well for what is sure to be an unforgettable rally outside Taco Bell headquarters on March 5th.

We just got confirmation that Tom Morello and Boots Riley will not only perform on the 5th, but will take the stage together for a powerful show of music and politics!

At the same time, Over the Counter Intelligence out of Ft. Lauderdale, shown here on the right at their performance following the Root Cause March at the FTAA meetings in November, have been hard at work and have put together a remix of last year's hunger strike anthem, Hunger Days, called "Endless Pangs". To check out the new cut, brought to you by JG and Havikenhayes and recorded by their new LA-based co-conspirator, Vibe One, click on the 20-sec. mp3 excerpt below - enjoy!:

Endless Pangs - The Hunger Days Remix

Announcing

REGISTER for historic march!: If you plan to march with us in Southern California on the three-day march -- whether just for a short distance or for several days -- please contact us at truthtour2004@ciw-online.org with the following information: Name, school/organization, contact info., day(s) you plan to march, and # in your group. If you plan to join us from outside of Southern California and need assistance with meals and shelter, please also include this information in your e-mail. Thank you!

(For more details on the Louisville and Southern CA events, scroll down)

LOUISVILLE EVENTS:

Friday, Feb. 27: MARCH ON YUM BRANDS Headquarters (parent company of Taco Bell)

We recommend that you leave your car near the end point of the march. You can drop off passengers downtown early (by 8:00 am) and take your car to 1961 Bishops Lane (parallel to Goldsmith, east of Newburg Road. There will be a shuttle to the beginning point of the march leaving Bishops Lane at 8:30 and 8:45 that morning.

* 9:00 AM March Send-off @ Presbyterian Church (USA) Headquarters 100 Witherspoon St., Louisville

* 10:00 AM March departs from Presbyterian Church (USA). Farmworkers and their allies walk 8-miles to Yum! Brands, stopping for brief protests at a Taco Bell restaurant and United Foodservice Purchasing Co-op (the company that manages Yum! Brands’ supply chain) along the way.

The March Route (First Street, Broadway, Baxter, Bardstown, Goldsmith, Gardiner) - Details below:

* 9:00am - March assembly and Presbyterian (USA) Headquarters, 100 Witherspoon
* 9:45am - March steps off
* 10:15am - 0.9 miles Taco Bell restaurant 108 E. broadway (at Second St.) Brief rally
* 11:15am - 2.7 miles Second Taco Bell/Pizza Hut combination store on Bardstown Road
  3.5 miles St. James Catholic Church
* 12:30pm - 4.5 miles, Douglas Blvd Christian Church, lunch stop. Farmworkers get first serving; others may want to bring a sack lunch,
  5.5 miles Assumption High School/Gardiner Lane Shopping Center
  6.2 miles right turn onto Goldsmith Lane
* 2:15pm - 6.8 miles, jog onto Bishops lane and meet up with others from second staging area
  7.2 miles cross Newburg Rd.
  7.5 miles Right on Bishop Lane
  7.7 miles Right ot Bishop and Gardiner toward Yum)
* 3:00pm - 8.2 miles KFC/Yum! Rally

* 3:00 PM MASS RALLY at YUM BRANDS HEADQUARTERS, 1441 Gardiner Ln., Louisville

* 5:00pm - Rally ends, limited shuttles available back downtown

Student Action with Farmworkers Activist Leadership Training (February 27th and 28th, Louisville, KY)
Feb. 27th Agenda (location to be announced):
* 6:30-7:00pm Registration and Welcome, SAF
* 7:00-8:00pm Modern-day Slavery in the Fields & Taco Bell Boycott, CIW
* 8:00-9:00pm Farmworkers and Family Farmers Discuss Corporate Control, CIW, Agricultural Missions, Community Farm Alliance(CFA)

For more info. on Louisville events, please contact Stephen Bartlett at 502-894-9308 or sbartlett@ag-missions.org

For more info. about the Student Action with Farmworkers conference, please contact Laxmi Haynes at 919-660-3660 or email at farmworker_justice@yahoo.com

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EVENTS:

Tuesday, March 2nd – Thursday, March 4th: 44-MILE MARCH (EAST LA TO IRVINE)

Friday, March 5th @ NOON: MASS RALLY AT TACO BELL HQ (Irvine)

MARCH HIGHLIGHTS:

Tues., March 2:

* 8:30 AM Kick-off Rally at Belvedere Park, 4914 Cesar Chavez Ave., East LA (across from East Los Angeles College)

* March passes through East LA, Montebello, Pico Rivera and Santa Fe Springs (East on Cesar Chavez, South on Atlantic, East on Whittier, South on Rosemead, East on Telegraph, South on Pioneer)

Weds., March 3:

* March passes through Santa Fe Springs, Norwalk, Cerritos, Artesia, Lakewood, Hawaiian Gardens and Cypress (South on Pioneer, East on Lincoln)

* Dolores Huerta, co-founder of UFW, joins the CIW on the 2nd day of their march (time TBA)!

Thurs., March 4:

* March passes through Anaheim, Garden Grove, and Santa Ana (East on
Lincoln, South on Euclid, East on Katella, South on Harbor, East on Westminster/17th, South on Main)

* 11:00 AM March weaves through Disneyland!!

Friday, March 5:

* 8:30 AM Gather at Delhi Park to march final 3 miles to Taco Bell HQ! 2314 Halliday St. – off of Warner Ave., Santa Ana

* 12:00 PM MASS RALLY AT TACO BELL HQ – music, speakers, theater and more!

For more info. on Southern California events, please contact us at truthtour2004@ciw-online.org or 714-953-9305.