The March for Rights, Respect and Fair Food inches ever closer…
In Immokalee, February is greeted not as the month of Valentine’s Day or the easing of the winter, but rather as the final stretch before launching the big spring action. And, indeed, a month from today, we will be setting out from Fort Myers on our way to Publix corporate headquarters in Lakeland — and we would love nothing more than for you to join us!
With the march quickly approaching, farmworkers from the heart of the movement in Immokalee and allies from across the country are signing up to be a part of this 175-mile trek. Last week we posted a visual tour of the route via Google Maps. And now, starting today, you (and your family!) can sign up to join us for a day, a week, or the whole thing.
Please take a minute to register with us. A march like this is no small undertaking, and your information helps us with all the logistical details — from organizing three nourishing meals a day to arranging beautiful places to stay —
that make these actions such a memorable experience.
Click here to register!
As you ponder the possibility of joining us in the street next month, we’d like to share a few words of inspiration (building on last week’s commitment from the NAACP of Charlotte County) from two marchers explaining why they decided to join the march. First up is the CIW’s own Doña Carmen Esquivel of the CIW women’s group:
Compañeros: together we go to fight, to share efforts with the Coalition today that we are alive, today that we unite efforts to conquer equality of rights in the fields. Today, united, we are stronger. […]
We are going to share ideas, dreams and efforts to give life to a march that, although to us implies sacrifice, will make history — so that when our children grow up they know that their ancestors were ordinary people, without names and without numbers, who shared joys like that of today and that of this fight… and if we work with a minimal wage or without one, it was thanks to a union of efforts that we had the wings to get to this meeting today, and to free ourselves of the injustices and of the bars of the mind.
Gentlemen, ladies, and young people, thank you for being part of the change. United, we advance to make a reality of the march, united we will win over Publix — and Publix, united with us, one day will also fight for fair food, because thanks to the uniting of the worker and the CIW, eleven companies are already a part of our history.
– Doña Carmen, at the Central Committee meeting in January 2013
From another corner of the country, we have a message from Bob St. Peter of Saving Seeds farm in Sedgwick, Maine, (pictured below at the Fast for Fair Food) who is bringing not only himself but his entire family to join the march:
The CIW are modern day abolitionists who are continuing the struggle to reverse the long, dark history of agricultural labor in this country. As a small-scale farming family we know first hand the challenges of earning a living from the land when the entire system seems rigged against you. We also know the beauty and joy of the work of feeding people and the dignity of working with our hands. Alongside the CIW, we will march towards the day when all people who nurture life and prepare the food we eat will earn living wages and be able to care for their children, the animals, and the land without financial hardship.
Bob St. Peter, Juli Perry, Luna Perry-St.Peter & Emma Perry-St.Peter
Saving Seeds Farm
Sedgwick, Maine
So if you’re thinking of joining the March for Rights, Respect and Fair Food, make sure to register and send us a note about why you’re coming — you may just find yourself on the front page of this website as an inspiration to others in the weeks ahead!