Sunday, Sept. 28: Rising before dawn to embark on a historic journey
Thursday, Sept. 25: Minnesota ride launched with festive celebration
Sunday, Sept. 28: Rising before dawn to embark on a historic journey
At 6 a.m., the sky was still black outside Neighborhood House on St.Paul's West Side. But the building was buzzing with activity, as some 80 participants in the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride prepared to embark on their week-long journey.
They lugged suitcases and backpacks and tearfully hugged family members and friends before boarding two buses. The riders come from every corner of the globe. They are united around one goal: drawing awareness to the challenges faced by immigrant workers and the need for a new policy to address these issues.
A group of motorcyclists, led by Minnesota State Building Trades President Dick Anfang, rode in front of the buses, providing an escort to their first stop in Madison, Wis. The riders will attend a noon interfaith lunch at the Madison Labor Temple, then travel to nearby Jefferson, where they will join striking members of the United Food & Commercial Workers outside the plant gate of Tyson Foods.
Sunday evening the riders will participate in a program at Our Lady of Guadalupe church in Milwaukee. Speaker will be the Rev. James Lawson, one of the organizers of the 1961 Freedom Ride through the southern United States.
View a short video clip of the Minnesota buses departing St. Paul
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| Riders board the bus marked "freedom." Photos by Barb Kucera |
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| Hesbon Simba, an immigrant from Kenya, is interviewed by a film crew before boarding the bus. |
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| Mike Bennett (left), a business agent for Carpenters Local 1644, and Dick Anfang, president of the Minnesota State Building & Construction Trades Council, were part of a motorcycle escort. |
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| Riders, family and friends engaged in last-minute hugs and picture-taking. |
Thursday, Sept. 25: Minnesota ride launched with festive celebration
MINNEAPOLIS -- Eighty immigrants and supporters who will travel on the Minnesota leg of the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride celebrated with a large crowd of friends Thursday night at Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis.
 |
| Aztec dancers lent a festive air to the celebration. |
The party went off without a hitch, despite the threat of possible disruption by a neo-Nazi group. Four protesters, holding signs that read "Go Home," stood on the hill above the gathering, but were mostly ignored by the participants in the celebration.
The event was short on speeches and long on music and food. Uriel Perez Espinosa and Milagros Jimenez, two immigrants taking part in the ride, urged everyone to have a good time. Union members sporting t-shirts and jackets for their organizations -- UFCW, Laborers and SEIU, among others -- mingled with riders wearing yellow shirts and families enjoying the rice, beans and tortillas provided by the Resource Center of the Americas.
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Sunday, Sept. 28: Rising before dawn to embark on a historic journey
Thursday, Sept. 25: Minnesota ride launched with festive celebration
Sunday, Sept. 28: Rising before dawn to embark on a historic journey
At 6 a.m., the sky was still black outside Neighborhood House on St.Paul’s West Side. But the building was buzzing with activity, as some 80 participants in the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride prepared to embark on their week-long journey.
They lugged suitcases and backpacks and tearfully hugged family members and friends before boarding two buses. The riders come from every corner of the globe. They are united around one goal: drawing awareness to the challenges faced by immigrant workers and the need for a new policy to address these issues.
A group of motorcyclists, led by Minnesota State Building Trades President Dick Anfang, rode in front of the buses, providing an escort to their first stop in Madison, Wis. The riders will attend a noon interfaith lunch at the Madison Labor Temple, then travel to nearby Jefferson, where they will join striking members of the United Food & Commercial Workers outside the plant gate of Tyson Foods.
Sunday evening the riders will participate in a program at Our Lady of Guadalupe church in Milwaukee. Speaker will be the Rev. James Lawson, one of the organizers of the 1961 Freedom Ride through the southern United States.
View a short video clip of the Minnesota buses departing St. Paul
|
|
Riders board the bus marked “freedom.” Photos by Barb Kucera |
|
| Hesbon Simba, an immigrant from Kenya, is interviewed by a film crew before boarding the bus. |
|
| Mike Bennett (left), a business agent for Carpenters Local 1644, and Dick Anfang, president of the Minnesota State Building & Construction Trades Council, were part of a motorcycle escort. |
|
| Riders, family and friends engaged in last-minute hugs and picture-taking. |
Thursday, Sept. 25: Minnesota ride launched with festive celebration
MINNEAPOLIS — Eighty immigrants and supporters who will travel on the Minnesota leg of the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride celebrated with a large crowd of friends Thursday night at Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis.
|
| Aztec dancers lent a festive air to the celebration. |
The party went off without a hitch, despite the threat of possible disruption by a neo-Nazi group. Four protesters, holding signs that read “Go Home,” stood on the hill above the gathering, but were mostly ignored by the participants in the celebration.
The event was short on speeches and long on music and food. Uriel Perez Espinosa and Milagros Jimenez, two immigrants taking part in the ride, urged everyone to have a good time. Union members sporting t-shirts and jackets for their organizations — UFCW, Laborers and SEIU, among others — mingled with riders wearing yellow shirts and families enjoying the rice, beans and tortillas provided by the Resource Center of the Americas.