What a day to begin the Fair Food Solidarity Tour! Through the snowy backroads of Maryland countryside, United Workers members and allies made our way to the retreat space. As we arrived we were greeted by delicious smells of dinner ready.
After sharing a meal, we all came together to learn more about the Coalition of Immokalee and their struggle for farmworker dignity. Armando Tema, United Workers leader and poverty scholar, led us in a discussion where we talked about the movement the CIW is building to expose the human rights crisis taking place in Florida’s fields, involving in some extreme cases, modern day slavery. We related this to the Underground Railroad and the movement built by abolitionists to end an institution of slavery. We talked about what would be needed from each of us to build the Underground Railroad to Freedom from Poverty. Together in a unity circle, we each held a candle. One by one as we voiced how we would strengthen this movement, Armando lit our candles until we created a ring of light and solidarity. With the room lit with candles, we broke out into “This Little Light of Mine.” And thanks to our new United Workers song books, we all had the lyrics. 
We carried on with this spirit of song into the night with two guitars and an accordion! We broke in the song book with our renditions of “Ella’s Song”, “This Land is My Land…” and “People Get Ready.”
But with a big day ahead of us, we must get our rest so we can have the same energy as we demand that Aramark ensure basic human rights standards for farmworkers in their supply chain and that Cordish ensures basic human rights standards at the Inner Harbor. Stay tuned for exciting recap of tomorrow’s actions.
To view more photos from the firs day, go to flickr
