Nearly 600 workers, allies come together on final day of March to Build a New World to celebrate decade of human rights progress, call on Wendy’s, Kroger, and Publix to do their part to help end modern-day slavery and other outrageous abuses in agricultural industry, here and abroad!

Student: “What you have done, and what you will do, is just the beginning of a better and brighter future for us all.  Justice is incredibly hard to achieve and to maintain, yet it is not impossible.  You have proven that, and will continue to do so.”

The March to Build a New World is over, following a raucous, joyous, 2-mile trek through the tree-lined streets of Palm Beach on its 5th and final day.  

We will have a full report tomorrow from Day 5, with a great new video, dozens and dozens of amazing photos, and all the media from a beautiful day for food justice and human rights.

For now, here below is a quick peek at a baker’s dozen of photos from yesterday, followed by messages from several students who sent solidarity wishes to the marchers that capture — better even than any of the incredible footage and images from the 5-day, 50-mile march — the marchers’ fight for freedom, justice, and respect for fundamental human rights for all who toil in the fields to put food on our tables every day.

Thanks for all your support for an unforgettable 5 days, and come back again tomorrow for the full report from the March to Build a New World!

Brief photo update from Day 5: 

After 4 long days on the road from Pahokee, the core marchers — who numbered roughy 125 throughout the first 4 days — nearly quintupled in number to almost 600, counting among the hundreds of reinforcements farmworkers from Immokalee and allies from around the country who took to the streets of Palm Beach on Day 5, requiring a drone to capture their full length from the skies above the city’s palm-lined streets…

… and making their message heard loud and clear on the ground!

The marchers’ message was well received by countless residents and visitors — people of all ages — to the luxurious island community.  Here three generations welcome the marchers…

… while above some of the newest-minted fans of Fair Food, dressed in their Saturday finest, gathered in a passageway to watch the march make its way through town.

The globe — split between the darkness of fields beyond the protections of the Fair Food Program, where workers are still subjected to abuses ranging from violence to sexual harassment and forced labor, and the light of the FFP, where workers can speak to auditors and make complaints without fear of retaliation, identifying abuses and removing abusers from the industry — brought its message of two worlds to the march in Palm Beach.  Here workers from Immokalee carry the globe from the truck to the park where marchers gathered before stepping off for the march…

… while here the globe takes center stage as part of the theater in the park, demonstrating the stark differences between the two worlds and the workers’ fight for Fair Food,…

… and here, finally it takes to the streets at the head of the march…

… carrying its powerful message to thousands of people on the exclusive island enclave.

And in the end, a march is made of people who join it — the irreducible element at the heart of the movement for Fair Food — be they longtime allies like Kerry Kennedy, Executive Director of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights and a friend of the CIW for nearly two decades…

… or workers from Immokalee, like Ubaldo Ruiz, who marched every step of the 50 mile trek from the dilapidated labor camps and endless sugar cane fields of Pahokee to the sunny streets of Palm Beach, never giving in to the aches and the fatigue of the march, fueled by a commitment to dignity at work and respect for fundamental human rights that finds no obstacle too high, no road too long, on their journey to farmworker freedom.

Last Word: Messages of Solidarity from Student supporters:

Here below are a few of the countless messages of solidarity that the marchers received over the 5 long days from allies from around the country, these particular messages coming from a class of 8th grade students in Lakeland, Florida, that were just too moving, too wonderful, not to share. Enjoy, and come back tomorrow for a full report from Day 5!

 

Click here to read more letters from this remarkable 8th grade class!