 November
25 & 26- St. Petersburg, FL |
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One
of the youngest Freedom Riders - Miriam, Margaret's daughter
- celebrated her first birthday today. Miriam clapped along
as the group sang Happy Birthday.
Mire
este sitio en espanol.
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Early
in the afternoon the New Freedom Bus Tour, the Tampa Bay Action
Group, and For the Homeless By the Homeless met up with the
Coalition of Immokalee
Workers to protest a local Taco Bell.
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The Coalition
of Immokalee Worker's is boycotting Taco Bell because of the
sweatshop conditions that exist in the fields where they pick
Taco Bell's tomatoes. Workers have not had a raise in the
piece rate (the amount they get for picking one bucket of
tomatoes) in 30 years.
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There were about 70 protestors who lined the sidewalks holding
signs representing their own groups but also handing out
literature about the struggles of the tomato pickers.
If Taco Bell were to pay one penny more per pound of tomatoes,
and pass that penny on to the workers, it would double their
wages.
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After
the Taco Bell protest, the New Freedom Bus joined a march
and rally against economic human rights violations in the
St Petersburg/Tampa area.
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Anita,
a KWRU member and Freedom Bus Rider, documenting violations
of economic human rights.
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The
Rev. Bruce Wright of the Refuge (with mic) emceed the rally
at city hall. He said, "This city spends $4.5 million
a year subsidizing the Devil Rays, and only $450,000 on
human services. Where are our priorities?"
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Then
several hundred people marched from City Hall, through St
Petersburg, and to a public park. |
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The
march ended in a nearby park. A rally began with the Economic
Human Rights Choir singing "Woke Up This Morning".
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Eric
Rubin of the Tampa Bay Action Group and Florida Fair Trade
Coalition "They say if you're homeless, its your fault.
They say if you don't have health care, its your fault.
But what comes first: people and the environment or big
corporations. The only way we are going to change things
is if we get organized. We're launching a statewide ballot
initiative to have Florida uphold Article 25 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, which says everyone has the
right to housing, healthcare, and living wage jobs."
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Galen
Tyler of the KWRU said, "We've seen a lot of different
struggles on our tour so far. We know that the only way
to really change these conditions is to unite these stuggles
into one big struggle. We need to make the US live up to
what many other countries already believe, that just because
you are born you have these basic human rights. The KWRU
is an affiliate of the Labor Party because they have the
interests of working people in mind. The Democrats and Republicans
have only the interests of big corporations in mind."
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Jenny
Brown of the Alacua County Labor Party said: "We put
a question on the ballot asking if people want Just
Healthcare, and the insurance companies attacked it.
They lied and said that it would be too expensive.But what
they were really worried about is that not enough profits
would go to them. The World Health Organization recently
ranked the world's health systems. Ours ranked #37, but
we spend more money on healthcare than any other country.
What are we getting for that money? The insurance companies
are getting fat profits, and we are not getting the care
we need. 65% of the people in Alachua County voted for Just
Healthcare. We need Just
Healthcare."
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Tampa
Bay Devil Rays's #25 Hazelton, himself formerly homeless,
gave some of the Freedom Riders a ride from a free dinner
to where they were staying that night.
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Links:
Taco
Bell Boycott Headquarters
Tampa Bay Action
Group
Daily
Prayer for the New Freedom Bus Tour
The Rev.
Noelle Damico, Catalyst, School of Theology, University
of the Poor
Monday, November 25
Loving
God, you have created us in your own image and placed the
responsibility for the world’s future in our hands.
We give you thanks for the members and leaders of grassroots
poor peoples’ movements across this country whose vigilance,
rigor, and ingenuity are helping communities survive poverty
and organize for their God-given rights.
Through this bus tour we seek new ways of partnering with
our sisters and brothers who are poor. Even now we know that
you are raising up more leaders from the ranks of the poor
whose experience and creativity will increase the strength
of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign.
Through sharing our stories, experience, and analyses, may
we achieve greater understanding and a broader commitment
to realizing economic human rights in our lifetime. Amen.
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About
the Campaign 
