Blog #8

Blog #8

The CIW is a community-based organization of mainly Latino, Mayan Indian and Haitian immigrants working in low-wage jobs throughout the state of Florida. Mainly of the farmers are working in tomatoes and citrus fields. They are striving to receive just a penny more per pound of tomatoes picked. They hold strikes, walks, and boycotts to visibly fight their inhumanity. Boycotts against Burger King, McDonald’s and Taco Bell, involving the workers and students asking for this wage difference.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmwEv_Nwxzg&feature=relmfu

Images of an actual Freedom March, women and children are showed with signs making their voice visible and heard to those around the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNgQhVvrzMM&feature=relmfu

Images of the Pilgrimage to Publix, these individuals are going to the source to stand up for what they believe in. This is also a great way to call attention to their cause. This bike ride has men, women, and children all traveling the distance to fight for fair food wages and trade.

La Via Campesina has been around since 1999 and is "an international movement which coordinates peasant organizations of small and middle-scale producers, agricultural workers, rural women, and indigenous communities from Asia, Africa, America, and Europe". It’s main goal and chants are for food sovereignty, the right to produce food on one's own territory.

http://vimeo.com/27473286

This video shows the organizations are work to make their cause visible to the people responsible for the problems. La Via Campesina blame most of their problems on the WTO and the World Bank. Their main goal is to allow farmer to be self reliant by giving them a voice. We talk in class about how important visibility is for all people struggling to prevent injustice.

Both of these groups as you can see from the videos and images above are trying to make their fights more visible. Visibility is the key to making a difference. They both disrupt the peace in nonviolent manners, by holding boycotts and marches. Each group is fighting for the rights of farmers although they have a different fight to justice, if they combined together in a sense they are both supporting the same people. These groups have both also grown over time giving them more leverage for making it visible to the nation and most importantly to their consumers. Without the visibility of each campaign, I personally would have no idea about the unfair wages and work environments taking place on American soil. Growing up in America I have always believed we live in a place where equality for all, was the main motto. Unfortunately as I’ve grown older and might I add wiser I have learned different.

Groups like the Coalition of Immokalee workers and the La Via Campesina are great ways to bring real issues to the surface, without these two groups no justice would ever been sought for these individuals. As one you have just that one voice, but it a group you have the voice of many. It’s easy to turn a blind eye to just one individual complaining, you might not believe what they are saying or you may think they are just exaggerating but with multiple people telling you the same thing it’s hard to ignore. Both groups have not completely completed what they set out to do but they are still working hard are achieving their goals. With the help of others and the continued publicity, I would hope that the big corporations would crumble and become human again, by helping others less fortunate.