MARTIN SHEEN ENDORSES THE ALLIANCE FOR FAIR FOOD!

Posted on by CIW

Gloria Ruben (of TV’s “ER”) and Matthew Modine (“Full Metal Jacket”) also joined the AFF this past weekend, as stars and political leaders (including a certain former president, seen below with Lucas Benitez and Julia Perkins of the CIW, together with Monika Kalra Varma of the RFK Memorial on the far left…) attending an RFK Memorial benefit in New York met CIW representatives and learned about the human rights situation in Florida’s fields…

In a gala benefit performance of”Speak Truth to Power” — a theater adaptation of Kerry Kennedy’s book by the same title examining human rights issues in over 40 countries — Hollywood stars and world political leaders gathered in the name of human rights.
In the photo above, Martin Sheen (aka President Bartlett of “The West Wing”) and Mrs. Ethel Kennedy (left) leave the benefit with the CIW’s Lucas Benitez…
There was no better place for Lucas, 2003 RFK Human Rights Award Laureate and co-founder of the CIW, to talk about the deplorable conditions faced by farmworkers in Florida and to press the Campaign for Fair Food. And talk he did, meeting with dozens of artists and political leaders and winning important new support for the campaign. Here, Lucas joins Gloria Ruben and Matthew Modine in speaking with Inside Edition (yes, Inside Edition)…
The other president in attendance that night joins Lucas, Julia Perkins of the CIW (right), and Monika Kalra Varma of the RFK Memorial for a quick chat and pic. We promised to get back to him with more about the campaign — said he knew a little something about campaigning himself… And if his speech in acceptance of the RFK Memorial’s “Ripple of Hope” award was any indication, he still has the touch, leaving all in attendance moved and wistful for times of more eloquent leadership… President Clinton was sincerely interested in the CIW’s anti-slavery efforts.

 
But it wasn’t all red carpets and dances with the stars for the CIW crew in New York…
Here, Lucas meets with students from the St. Luke’s School in Manhattan to talk about how young people are targeted by the fast-food industry’s billion-dollar marketing departments and what they can do to help make fast-food fair food too.
The support of artists and activists like Martin Sheen — together with the burgeoning religious, youth, and labor support across the country — bodes well for the campaign as the plans for an action-packed season gear up for the months ahead.