As I write this the Minnesota Freedom Riders are probably in Pennsylvania or so, speeding home to their families. Despite having the option of finally getting a good night's sleep, I've been awake for hours, reviewing and trying to process the past week, and checking out some of the media coverage of the event.

Yesterday on the bus, Lu Samaniego, a beloved rider from Rochester, Minn., with the singing voice of a karaoke star, gave us an impromptu speech about how we riders had achieved the American Dream. And I have to agree with him -- all of us in our different ages and ethnicities and backgrounds, bonded together, really did become a family, looking out for each other and telling inside jokes and supporting each other.

More highlights from the journey:

--The incredible rally in Flushing Meadows, Queens yesterday, where hundreds of thousands of people came to support immigrant workers' rights, and where we danced to some really great music in our special front section with the riders from the other buses.

--Chanting "no more Bush, ____ for president!" to celebrate someone who had just made a good point at the bus's mike.

--No matter how little sleep we'd gotten or how early we needed to get up, there was always time for salsa dancing and celebrating each night when we reached our hotels. And last night, many of us found each other at a bar in Brooklyn for a last hurrah while others toured New York and bought presents for their kids.

--This may sound like a low point, but it was powerful to be united in our frustrations over the past few days. Congressmen sent young assistants in their stead to talk to us during our lobbying day. Rallies went on for hours while politician after politician after labor leader attached their names to our cause, letting only one or two riders get up to tell their stories. We ran behind schedule and went an exhausting day without lunch, and at day's end a reception that was supposed to be a 'meet-and-greet' turned out to be yet another grandstand. Throughout these trials, we never turned on each other or lost sight of what we were there for. We may have been tired, but spirits remained high.

Marv Davidov, the venerable original Freedom Rider who joined us on our trip, often spoke of his first night in a Mississippi prison, after being arrested for violating segregation laws. Lying awake in his cell, he heard the other riders singing freedom songs, keep your eyes on the prize. As Marv puts it, he experienced a moment of "blessed human solidarity," and has spent the rest of his life seeking those kinds of moments. I think we all agree that we just spent a week experiencing something similar -- all of us pushing ourselves to our physical and emotional limits, fighting hard and raising awareness for something that so obviously needs to be changed.

Last night at our celebration dinner, I sat with a rider from Madison for a while. In Peru he was an architect designing city buildings, and worked for the UN in Nicaragua for 2 years on architecture projects. Two years ago he moved to Wisconsin, and now he works in a hospital cafeteria. But he's planning on getting his degree (again) at the university so he can work in architecture here in the U.S.

This a common story you hear -- I'm sure we've all read about or talked to someone who's had to start over in the U.S. What I was moved by this week is just how many individuals have these kinds of experiences. Most of the people in my normal daily life are educated professionals, and if we were to move elsewhere we'd assume that our credentials would transfer. I can't imagine my father moving to India and being told that his accounting degree was irrelevant, or that he could work but be paid significantly less than a native for the same job. Hey, I know what it was like to move to NY from Minnesota and have my credentials be dismissed on geographic grounds, and it really sucked. A number of millions is made of of many, many individuals, and it's for each and every one of these individuals who endure such injustices that we were riding for.

In any case -- enough preaching -- what's next? Well, I should have some photos to post on the web sometime this week. There will be a traveling exhibit and a web site for the photos and videos that everyone took, and I'm hoping we can put together some sort of public exhibition of some of the photos. Above all, I hope we can use the images of this past week to introduce more people to the issues they represent.

Nationally, I think we've focused attention on a huge problem. Once again I draw the parallel to the civil rights movement in the 60's, because I think what we just did is symbolic in a similar way. I can only hope that by continuing to vocalize the stories of immigrants and bringing people together to hear them, we can use that power to galvanize people to press legislators, employers, and average citizens to treat immigrants with respect, dignity, fairness and equality.

Alison Quito Ziegler

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Jaye Rykunyk (left), Peter Yarngo and other Minnesota riders dance in the aisles Saturday. Photos by Michael Kuchta

Oct. 4: Crowd of 150,000 celebrates America's immigration legacy
By Michael Kuchta

NEW YORK, N.Y. ? Skies were gray Saturday, but Corona Park was anything but as a crowd that police estimated at 150,000 celebrated America?s immigration legacy -- and demanded that laws be changed to reward, not punish, the latest generation of immigrant workers.

The outdoor festival was the final official event of the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride. However, as one 1961 Freedom Rider, the Rev. James Lawson, warned: ?We must not leave this ride as if it were over. This must be the beginning.?

Lawson drew roaring cheers when he urged the crowd to throw the Bush administration out of office next year and to work to end what he called ?plantation capitalism.?

Freedom Riders from the 10 routes that crossed the nation in the past two weeks made low-key entrances. But the deflated spirits from Friday?s marathon of speeches transformed quickly into a shake-of-the-shackles combination of dancing, singing and chanting in the dusty fields. Top-notch music from around the world ? including El Bronco and Wyclef Jean ? kept the mood festive.

Scores of community groups and union locals joined riders by the busload, parading ? rather appropriately, it seems -- onto the same grounds that were the site of the 1964 World?s Fair. They announced their arrival with banners, placards and chants of their own.

Union colors and a virtual United Nations of flags were out in force ? SEIU purple, UNITE red, Laborers orange, HERE blue.

To riders, many of the speeches, and speakers, were the same as we?d heard the past few days. But the calls for legalized residency, workplace rights, family reunification and civil rights drew raucous applause from those who showed up to show they?re in the battle. Two giant video screens made sure the crowd saw it all.

Most of Minnesota?s riders ended the night with a heartfelt dinner at a Brazilian barbecue restaurant in Queens. The riders expect to start the journey home Sunday morning and not stop till we get there.

Police estimated Saturday?s crowd at 150,000. Photos by Michael Kuchta

Jorge Hidalgo, Dora Orjueb, and Jonathan Blaser, listen to speakers at Corona Park.

Miguel Valdez (left) and Miguel Barron like what they hear.

Union banners and a virtual United Nations of flags were out in force Saturday.

Ceclia Raimundo, from Hotel and Restaurant Employees Local 6, was one of the legions of union members who turned out for the rally in blustery weather.

Hesbon Simba and Maria Arrivillaga represented the Minnesota riders on stage Saturday.

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Oct. 3: Bus driver enjoys being part of 'spiritual process'

By Michael Kuchta

ON THE BUS ON INTERSTATE 95 -- The 90 or so riders on the Minnesota buses aren?t the only one who volunteered for the nine-day Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride. So did ?People? bus driver Dave Lacy.

Usually, the charter trips Lacy drives for Jefferson Lines are four- or five-day excursions of retirees to Branson, Mo., or youth groups to some national gathering.

The Freedom Ride is unlike any other trip he?s chauffeured, he said, and not just because of its length or the diversity of people on board.

?Usually, I?m an observer, like a writer or a photographer,? said Lacy, who is a member of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1498. ?But this is different. I feel like I?m part of this. I?ve never felt like this before. This is a spiritual process, a journey.?

Lacy lives in St. Paul. He?s been getting riders where they need to be since Sunday morning. He?ll stay with us until sometime Sunday or Monday, when another driver takes over in Pennsylvania for the final leg home.

Lacy is, in his words, ?about a 10^th-generation Yankee.? He signed up for the ride when the position got posted on the bulletin board at work, in part because he was curious why the issue is so important to many people who are citizens ? not just immigrants.

Driver Dave Lacy said the Freedom Ride has opened his eyes to many new viewpoints about immigration. Photo by Michael Kuchta

Before the ride, Lacy said, he thought of immigration mostly in economic terms ? the alleged drain on taxpayers, the way some people advance individually, some in groups, some through business prowess.

?But there are a number of legitimate issues here,? he said, ?issues I hadn?t thought of before.?

One of the things he?s observed, he said, is that ?people just want opportunity ? opportunity to advance in their own time, for the own needs.?

The last few days, however, many of his riders simply would settle for an opportunity to take a bathroom break. The bus? toilet is malfunctioning, adding yet another annoyance to impossibly tight schedules, less than precise directions and long days that Lacy has to handle.

But Friday, when riders were openly grumbling about having to skip lunch and limit pit stops in order to make it to New Jersey in time, Lacy put the irritating realities into perspective.

?You have to focus on the mission,? he said. ?You have to be willing to sacrifice a little bit of hunger or some bladder pressure. It?s nothing compared with the sacrifices you?ve heard about on this trip.?

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Oct. 3: Gathering near the Statue of Liberty

Jorge Hidalgo and Dora Orjueb, both from Isaiah, take time to take a long look at the Statue of Liberty during Friday?s welcoming ceremony in Liberty Park in New Jersey. This was as close as riders got to the statue; despite earlier indications that riders would take a ferry to the statue or visit Ellis Island, they didn?t get a chance to do either. Photos by Michael Kuchta

Zoe Massaquoi, from the Minneapolis Area Synod of the ELCA, celebrates the riders? arrival Friday in Liberty Park in New Jersey.

Abdulkadi Ali Seef and Amina Arte, both from Rochester, represented Minnesota riders onstage during a welcoming ceremony in New Jersey?s Liberty Park Friday.

It was an art museum in Queens, and a busload of Minnesota riders became another exhibit Friday night, while a seemingly endless list of union officials and politicians gave speeches and took advantage of the photo opportunity. Speaking at this moment is AFL-CIO president John Sweeney.

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