In a bit of news we are truly honored to report, one of Florida’s hidden treasures, 93-year old Stetson Kennedy (pictured above at a recent Publix protest in St. Augustine) has confirmed that he will be there Sunday in Lakeland and will speak at the rally!

Mr. Kennedy has devoted his life to combating poverty, exploitation, and racism in his home state of Florida. Over the course of his long and storied career, Mr. Kennedy risked his life to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan, toured farm labor and turpentine camps with author Zora Neale Hurston as director of field research for the WPA Writers Projects (recording stories of slavery and brutal exploitation, which he shared with the House Labor Committee and the UN Commission on Forced Labor), and collected an unparalleled library of Florida folklore.

For a taste of the rich culture and history of Florida’s working people he helped preserve, we’ve provided a few links here below (you really should do yourself a favor and take a minute to listen!):

* “Big boy can’t you move ’em”
(traditional work song, short)
* “Captain don’t you kill old Bob”
(work song, longer)
* Much more on Stetson Kennedy, his recordings, and history
(from the US Library of Congress)

If Mr. Kennedy represents Florida’s proud history of struggle against labor exploitation and racial injustice, Ms. Kerry Kennedy (pictured above speaking at a recent rally for farmworker rights in Albany, New York) is an exemplary leader of today’s human rights movement. And we are proud to announce that both these inspirational figures will be joining us in Lakeland at the Publix protest!

Ms. Kennedy’s “life has been devoted to the vindication of equal justice, to the promotion and protection of basic rights, and to the preservation of the rule of law.

She established the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights in 1988 and she has worked on diverse human rights issues such as children’s rights, child labor, disappearances, indigenous land rights, judicial independence, freedom of expression, ethnic violence, impunity, and the environment…

… She has led over 40 human rights delegations across the globe. At a time of diminished idealism and growing cynicism about public service, her life and lectures are testaments to the commitment to the basic values of human rights.”

And the press has begun to weigh in on the coming protest, too. Here’s an excerpt from today’s Ft. Myers News-Press (“Immokalee workers plan trip to Publix offices,” 12/4/09):

“… Another point of contention is the fact that Publix sells tomatoes from Six Ls and Pacific Tomato Growers, two Southwest Florida farms where captives held by a slavery ring federally prosecuted in December were taken to work.

Publix guidelines says: “Suppliers’ actions must be ethical and honest, as well as comply with laws, rules and regulations.”

Slavery is a federal crime.

Asked why Publix buys from companies where slavery occurred, Patten wrote: “Publix is not involved in the labor dispute between these groups. Whatever the groups negotiate, Publix will continue to pay whatever the market rate is for Florida tomatoes.”

You can read the whole article here. See you Sunday in Lakeland!