Day Six: The Freedom Caravan rolls into Atlanta

This morning, caravan riders appeared in the hotel lobby in matching t-shirts representing their various organizations. Many had stayed up into the wee hours making banners for the march, spending their last night on the road having parties and late-night swims in the hotel pool.

I talked to two of the organizers of the Freedom Caravan about how they were feeling on the last day of the caravan. Click on the link under the photo to hear Genaro Rendon, director of the Southwest Workers Union, on the last day of the caravan.



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And below, Robby Rodriquez talks about what it's been like to organize members of the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP) and others to come to the USSF on the Freedom Caravan.




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The riders were ready for the march through Atlanta, after up to six days on the road. Here are some photos of the arrival and the opening day march:

DAY 5: The historic freedom riders, and today's riders

When the Freedom Riders of 1961 rode buses throughout the south, they had a great deal more to fear than we do on this Freedom Caravan 46 years later.

The original Freedom Riders were beaten when they arrived in Rockville, South Carolina for the crime of sitting together, black and white, on public buses, and for using the “whites only” bus station lobbies and rest rooms.

In Anniston, Alabama, where they arrived on Mother’s Day, they were met by an angry mob dressed in their Sunday best, according to a history written by David Lisker to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the ride. The Freedom Riders decided not to stop at the station there, but the bus was forced to pull over outside of town when its slashed tires deflated. The bus driver fled, the mob that had followed the bus from Anniston surrounded the bus, and someone threw a fire bomb. The riders tried to escape the bus but found the exit doors blocked by the those outside the bus. When a gas tank exploded, the mob backed off enough to let the riders escape, but as the bus riders were choking on the smoke, they were beaten with steel pipes and baseball bats. According to Lisker, it was only because a plain-clothed police officer fired a gun into the air that the riders escaped lynching.

Freedom rides, jailings and beatings continued until five months after the first freedom rides began. Then, the Interstate Commerce Commission and Attorney General Robert Kennedy issued a ban enforcing the desegregation of interstate public facilities.

In Jackson, Mississippi, three bus loads of Freedom Caravan Riders took a tour of some of the city’s hot spots of civil rights history. Much of the history was unfamiliar to the group from New Mexico and Texas, although the sense of what it means to be excluded was all too familiar.

We visited Tougaloo College, which was one of the only places in Jackson where civil rights supporters could safely meet. In fact, it was one of the few places that blacks and whites could meet together at all without being arrested, according to our guide on the tour, Hollis Watkins, founder and president of Southern Echo. The college is famous for the Tougaloo Nine, who conducted a “read-in” at the whites-only Jackson Municipal Public Library. The college was once a plantation, and the main mansion has a balcony used to sell slaves. Today, it is a small college with a proud history of providing a safe haven for student and faculty and the larger civil rights movement to work against the violent system of US apartheid.

We drove by the livestock barns at the state fairgrounds where civil rights demonstrators were housed when the jails filled up. Watkins said they were often transported in cattle cars, just to make sure no one misunderstood the meaning of housing people in uncleaned livestock stalls.

It would be comforting to hear that such things don’t go on in the United States today. But adjacent to the infamous livestock sheds is the Jackson Coliseum, where evacuees from Hurricane Katrina were housed. At first, it was about equal number of blacks and white, Watkins pointed out. But after a few days, it was mainly black people waiting for a place to go.

We passed churches where blacks attempting to attend services had been beaten, and other churches that had opened their doors to civil rights gatherings, in spite of the dangers.

We passed the Greyhound station where the first Freedom Riders had disembarked and, instead of using the rear entrance reserved for blacks, entered through the front entrance. The event sparked Jackson residents to organize their own sit-ins and protests, and many spent time in jail.

We passed by the home of Medgar Evers. a modest home in a subdivision developed by and for African Americans. Evers was a field representative for the NAACP, and frequently received threats of violence and death. In May 1963, a Molotov cocktail was thrown at the house; Myrlie Evers, Medgar Evers’ wife, was able to extinguish it with a garden hose. But in June 1963, the violence turned deadly; Evers was killed as he left his car after returning home late from a meeting.

Watkins took us to a statue erected in honor of Evers, where Woody Bryant, a young man from Carlsbad, New Mexico, helped with the video taping of Watkins remarks.



Among the most inspiring stories was of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, which challenged the credentials of the all-white official delegation of the Democratic Party at the national Democratic convention. Among the heroes was Fanny Lou Hammer, who had been risking her life registering people to vote and organizing black people in violence-drenched rural Mississippi.

Fanny Lou Hammer’s speech at the convention was so powerful and commanding so much media attention that President Johnson hastily called a press conference to draw media attention away from the courageous woman who risked her life to call attention to the national disgrace of an all-white delegation from a state whose people had been struggling to vote. See the YES! article on the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party here.

The Fanny Lou Hammer’s niece joined the People’s Freedom Caravan today along with a bus load of people from Jackson, Mississippi, including a large Southern Echo contingent. I had a chance to speak to her when we stopped outside Wal-Marts to protest low wages and benefits for Wal-Marts workers.




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Click on this link to hear brief comments from Rep. Erik Fleming of the Mississippi House of Representatives DS200103.WMA

Next stop was Selma, Alabama, where we rejoin the buses from the Gulf Coast and prepare to join tomorrow’s march in Atlanta that begins the historic, first-ever US Social Forum.

See you there!

Day 4: Freedom Caravan in New Orleans

Now I see why people fall in love with this city. There is art and appreciation of beauty everywhere - in the pattern of the paving at historic Congo Square, on building facades, even on freeway pillars painted to resemble trees.

During the Freedom Caravan tour of the Lower Ninth Ward, I also came to understand why the people of this community insist on coming home. The Lower Ninth Ward was among the largest neighborhood of African-American-owned homes in the country. Many families had been there for generations. This is home, and there is a commitment to returning.

Malik Rahim who is featured in the current issue of YES!, talked to a group of us when we visited the Common Ground center. The Common Ground vision for this neighborhood goes beyond restoring it to its previous state. In the short talk that follows, Malik talks of ending the relationship of co-dependency with corporate energy sources by developing neighborhood sources of renewable energy. And he talks of restoring the wetlands that once protected lands from catastrophic flooding. And cleaning up the heavy metals in the soil by planting sunflowers and other plants that draw the poisons from the soil. This is about the restoration of a people and a place, in tandem.

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Malik is thinking of the broader questions of the future of humanity, as his talk indicates. The shattered lives, homes, and businesses of the Lower Ninth Ward are perhaps an early sign of the environmental and justice crises that have yet to command the attention of a nation distracted by Paris Hilton and the latest Washington scandals.

The challenge in the poor neighborhoods of New Orleans is enormous -- beginning with the criminal neglect of the levies and the lack of realistic evacuation plans; the criminal neglect of those left behind; the continuing neglect of the poor who want to return.



We learned of the struggle of public housing residents to return to homes that were not affected by water or wind - homes that were intact. The residents had leases; the homes were not the sort of failed projects where crime reins, but were homes to people who had lived well, if frugally. Many of these residents not only lost their homes, they were not permitted into their apartments to retrieve their belongings.

Other members of the Freedom Caravan helped with clean up of some of these housing projects. See the excellent blog on this and other aspects of the caravan at the Southwest Workers' Union blog.

The mainstream media finally discovered their sense of outrage in the days immediately after Katrina. But no one seems to want to see the persistence, in the face of continuing neglect, of the poor, predominantly African-American people who are the heart and soul of New Orleans.

The Freedom Caravan was joined by two buses of people from New Orleans. Now, the total is six -- two from New Mexico, one each from Houston and Austin, and two from the Big Easy. The latter two headed along the Gulf Coast to pick up more people for the ride to the Social Forum. Here's a photo of some of us:

Day Three: People's Caravan grows in size and energy

The size of the caravan doubled today, with an additional bus added in San Antonio and another bus in Houston. When we got off the buses in downtown New Orleans this evening caravan riders filled the hotel lobby and spilled out into the street.

In Hartman Park, Houston, the caravan stopped to have a barbeque prepared by local organizers.



The park is adjacent to the Valero plant, which was spewing smoke and flaring off gases as we arrived.



Once again, we heard stories of people suffering from the effects of pollution. This family lives in the neighborhood of the plant, and believes the reason their son required open-heart surgery was the impacts of the pollution.



Hilton Kelley of Port Arthur, Texas, told of a victory over attempts to truck highly toxic chemicals into his town.



You can hear his brief comments here, along with his note of appreciation for the help he received. It's working together that allowed us to win, he said.

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Mike Espinoza told the crowd about the victories of janitors to win the right to organize -- and the higher wages that resulted



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Then it was off to the Martin Luther King Center in Lake Charles, Louisiana, where the group heard again from local activists.



Grace Bauer (left) spoke of the 2000 young people who were locked away in Louisiana prisons in 2001. The Families of Louisiana's Incarcerated Children pressed for legislation that cut that number to 500 and resulted in the closure of a notorious private prison for kids, Tallulah.



"We learned that alone we are powerless, but working together we were able to close down a prison," she said. "We are proud to be part of the struggle for a better world -- for funding schools not prisons, for clean air and water."

"We may be miles apart, but when we go back to our own work, we'll be able to see your faces and to know that a better world is possible."

I asked her why she is planning to attend the US Social Forum's "Family Reunion for families of Incarcerated."

"There was a time when I was so alone," Bauer said. "Church and family turned their backs on us because our son was in jail."

When I see all those folks gathered it will be a vindication." Bauer's 20-year-old son has just completed serving three years in prison and is struggling to get back on his feet. "I want him to see that others are making it" she said.

Environmental issues are front and center for people in Lake Charles as they have been at every stop along the trip.

Dorthy Felix (right in photo above) of the Mossville Environmental Action Now, INC. (MEAN) spoke of the dioxin and other toxic chemicals that are sickening residents resulting from nearby chemical and vinyl facilities, and oil refineries. "We have so much sickness, so much cancer here."



Local, state and federal inaction has led this group to seek help from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Caravan participants lined up to sign a petition to the IACHR.



Even at just a few hundred, the caravan is starting to have a presence. When four buses, a van, several cars pull up and people begin pouring off the buses, those waiting are drawn into a tapestry of peoples and struggles from across the southwest and the south.

For many who feel powerless in the face of the huge corporate polluters or the less visible, but also sickening, effects of racism and exclusion, the caravan functions like a social forum on wheels. The dots are connected. Friendships are made. Each person understands the world and their place it in more richly. The work ahead seems less daunting.

Day Two Freedom Caravan: San Antonio

After a marathon bus trip from Albuquerque and a late-night arrival in San Antonio, bus riders were glad to spend a second night in this city.

But rest wasn't on the agenda.

The local hosts -- the Southwest Workers Union and Fuerza Unida, had us up early for an environmental justice tour of the neighborhoods surrounding the Kelly Air Force Based. The base has been closed, or more accurately privatized. Much of the aircraft maintenance work that used to be done by the military is now done at the same site by Boeing and Lockheed Martin under contract.

But the tour focused on the environmental legacy of the base. We heard from people who bought homes in the modest neighborhood adjacent to the base, only to learn that the soil and ground water are polluted. We heard from people who had gotten sick, and those who had surveyed the neighborhood and learned that nine out of the 13 households on the block had someone who had died of cancer or someone who is now suffering from the disease.



In this photo, Lupe Alvarado tells freedom riders what it is like to live with the pollution and health effects.



And Leroy Johnson, an employee at Kelly Airforce Base from 1965 to 1990, told the group about the health problems he and other former base employees suffer.



Southwest Workers Union started a purple cross campaign to identify the toxic hazards of the neighborhood they call the Toxic Triangle.

Then it was back on the buses to go to an immigrants rights rally at the historic Alamo.











You can find more of my photos from the People's Freedom Caravan at the YES! USSF site on Flickr and the Southwest Workers' Union blog here.

People's Freedom Caravan, Day 1

The sun was still low in the sky when people began gathering on Park Street in Albuquerque New Mexico, outside the office of the Southwest Organizing Project. People of all ages, with backpacks and suitcases, were saying hurried good-byes, stocking up on water and fruit. and chasing children excited to be embarking on a long adventure.



The People’s Freedom Caravan pulled out at 7:30 am for a journey of five days from Albuquerque New Mexico to the U.S. Social Forum, in Atlanta. On the way, stops are planned for Texas, the Gulf Coast, and iconic places of the civil rights movement. At many of these stops, more people will join in. On the 27th, we will march into Atlanta to join up with the thousands already there to launch the first ever US Social Forum.

The slogan of the US Social Forum is that a better world is possible, and a better US is necessary. At the early morning rally, Bineshi Albert declared that that process begins with the start of the caravan.

Bineshi Albert, of the Center for Community Change, is one of a group of Native Americans who are on the caravan, most of them part of the Sage Council. The council has been working for years to stop a planned road that would cut through the Petroglyph National Monument, a sacred site to the Pueblo people (listen to the interview below for details). Despite the years of work in opposition, the road opened on Tuesday. Nonetheless, this group is more than ever committed to protecting sacred sites, and they are bringing their struggle to the U.S. Social Forum, where they hope to link up to others who can strengthen this work.

Several hours after leaving Albuquerque, the buses arrived for lunch at the home of the Dorado family in Carlsbad, New Mexico. The Dorado family lives in a lovely home, but they and their neighbors suffer from the operation of a nearby cement plant, which sometimes produces dust that makes life miserable. Local attempts to persuade the cement company to clean up were unsuccessful until the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP) helped out. SWOP is the chief organizer of the People’s Freedom Caravan, so, not surprisingly, the Dorado family got on board along with people from the local Martin Luther King Dream Center.

As I write, we are on the longest stretch of the trip – a seven-hour haul from Carlsbad to San Antonio Texas.



Victoria Rodriguez, is a member of the Southwest Organizing Project, which was a key organizer of the caravan. Click below to listen to a brief interview with Victoria.

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Bineshi Albert of the Center for Community Change and Bruce McClackey of the Sage Council talk about the efforts to protect sacred sites in New Mexico, and why they are going to the US Social Forum.



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Blogging the People's Freedom Caravan to the USSF

A week from today, I'll be on my way to Albuquerque to join up with one of the People's Freedom Caravan that will be making its way to the U.S. Social Forum. Check back here for my blogs, where I hope to offer you the flavor and the mounting excitement as we make our way across the South, ending up with a march into Atlanta.

The Southwest Workers Union, the Southwest Organizing Project, Southern Echo and the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond are organizing the caravan, which picks up on the spirit of the Freedom Rides of 1961 in which volunteers rode buses throughout the South to press for desegregation.

Evidently, there are other caravans in the works, but the one I'll be on starts off in Albuquerque and makes stops in San Antonio, Houston, Lake Charles, New Orleans, and Jackson, Mississippi.

"The Freedom Caravan is a social movement on wheels, giving us a chance to share and strategize towards achieving ‘another’ US.”

That is how Genaro Rendon of Southwest Workers' Union described the caravan.

Along the way, caravan riders will stop to highlight local struggles. Here's how the Southwest Workers Union described the route in their May 23rd posting.

The southern part of the People's Freedom Caravan will take off in Albuquerque where organizations are protecting sacred sites and bringing clean water and solar power to unincorporated communities. 100 people will journey to San Antonio to meet another 100 leaders and march for a living wage for all and call for a just, peaceful border.

Continuing to Houston, the hub of the oil industry, the group will promote a clean renewable energy for marginalized neighborhoods that struggle against pollution and sickness.

"The stories of Houston will be on the bus, promoting our right and everyone's right to breathe clean air and live in healthy communities. With 250 people joining us here, the local people can share their vision with this social forum on wheels and get their voices to Atlanta," explained Bryan Parras of the Southern Human Rights Organizing Network in Houston.

With over 4 buses, the caravan will stop in Lake Charles, La. to promote education instead of incarceration and protect communities from contamination. In New Orleans, 4 buses will join to highlight the commitment to rebuild, the protection of the right to return, promotion of affordable safe housing and human rights for all workers. The caravan will split as some buses head down the Gulf Coast, tracing the path of the hurricanes, while other head to Jackson to remember the legacy of the civil rights movement and the steps needed to achieve true equality.

Converging in Selma, Alabama, the caravan representing young and old, indigenous, migrants, Latinos, African-Americans and Asians will call for a renewed struggle to overcome the democracy divide and recognize the human rights of all people. As over 1000 people head the Atlanta, they will launch the USSF with a march into the city.

If I know anything about social forums, it's that things change between initial planning and the event, so I'm not sure what to expect. But my sense is that energy is building for the United States Social Forum, which planners say will be the largest gathering of progressives in decades. And I'm guessing the caravan will capture that building excitement as more and more people join in over the course of the five days.

I am looking forward to learning more about the movements across the Southwest and the South that are working to create a world in which all people have a place and in which our human and natural resources are treasured. And I'm excited by the ways that these movements are coming together.

Many of these organizations have been central to the organizing of the United States Social Forums, which YES! has been covering since it was a twinkle in the eyes of the organizers. YES! has also been covering the World Social Forums since they began in 2001 -- and we've been anticipating what it could mean to bring the power of this global movement to the United States.

I'll be keeping you up to date as we move through the South in this "social movement on wheels."

Meanwhile, here is the Southern route of the People's Freedom Caravan:

June 22nd – Albuquerque, NM (SWOP, Sage Council) 505.247.8832
June 23rd – San Antonio, TX (SWU, Fuerza Unida) 210.299.2666
June 24th – Houston, TX (People’s Institute) 318.514.9924
June 24th – Lake Charles, LA (Mossville Environmental Action Network, Friends and Families of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children) 504.606.8846
June 25th – New Orleans, LA (People’s Institute, People’s Hurricane Relief Fund) 504.301.9292
June 26th – Jackson, MS (Southern Echo) 601.982.6400
June 27th (morning) – Montgomery, AL
June 27th (afternoon) – March on Atlanta to USSF

And make sure to check the YES! USSF homepage, where a team of YES! folks will be blogging from the forum itself. YES! is also holding workshops and putting on a reception. Keep up to date with what we're learning, hear from other USSF participants, and send in your comments. The YES! USSF homepage will have the links.