Day two of the Fair Food Solidarity Tour was a Philadelphia double-hitter with a rally at Aramark Headquarters and a theatrical action at Cordish’s planned development, Philly Live! Once we were done taking to the streets, we took to the Media Mobilizing Project office for an incredible dinner, discussion and cultural night.
But after a day of running around from action to action, we dedicated today as a time to reflect, share and learn from and with each other. We began our day with a media workshop led by Veronica Dorsey, a Leadership Organizer and participant in the United Workers New Organizers Program. We talked about the importance of media within a movement and the how we use media to advance our human rights struggles. We then broke into three small groups to learn how to create Unity Blog entries, videos, and photos that carry our message and tell our story.
With our storytelling media skills in hand, Bernadette Scudder, Leadership Organizer and New Organizer participant, told the story of the United Workers from our founding by homeless day laborers in an abandoned fire house turned homeless shelter to declaring Baltimore’s Inner Harbor a “Human Rights Zone”. We brought this story to life by creating theatrical reenactments of our history.
While the larger group participated in this workshop, a delegation of representatives from the CIW, Student/Farmworker Aliance, Just Harvest and the United Workers made way for Giant Food Headquarters in Landover, MD. Our mission was to deliver a letter to Harriet Hentges, Vice President for Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability. We were there as allies to urge Giant to work with the CIW to ensure that they are not complicit in the continuation of sweatshop conditions of farmworkers who pick the tomatoes that are in their supermarkets. But Ms. Hentges was away at Ahold Headuarters, Giant’s parent company according to her assistant who took the letter and message in her place.
After the drop-in at Giant Headquarters, the delegation headed to Goucher College to give a presentation organized by Students for Worker Justice, a student group that works in solidarity with the United Workers. Oscar Otzoy and Romeo Ramirez of the CIW described in detail what a day in the life of a tomato picker is like and how this creates the conditions for the extreme cases of modern day slavery. Gerardo Reyes Chavez of the CIW then related to students how the strategy of brand busting has been used effectively by the CIW and allies in bringing major corporations to the table. Valerie Henry, United Workers leader, then introduced Inner Harbor Workers and United Workers members, Raquel Rojas, Moses Garrisson, and Dominique Washington to talk about their experiences of stolen wages, disrespect, and poverty wages at the Inner Harbor.
The delegation returned in time to watch the staging of the theatrical reenactments that the larger group worked on. But now, we are only hours away from making the long haul to Immokalee, Fl.
Check out new photos from the Fair Food Solidarity Tour on Flickr.
