"... so we can change the world ..."

The volunteers who organized the Farmworkers March for Dignity arrived at the designated meeting placed before 4 a.m.  With sunrise approaching at 5:47, the marchers gathered near the U.S. Customs and Border Protection building in Ferndale, WA, for a brief ceremony and mística*. 

There was a reading of the United Farm Workers Prayer:

Show me the suffering of the most miserable, so I may know my people’s plight.
Free me to pray for others, for you are present in every person.
Help me to take responsibility for my own life, so that I can be free at last.
Grant me courage to serve others, for in service there is true life.
Give me honesty and patience, so that I can work with other workers.
Bring forth song and celebration, so that the Spirit will be alive among us.
Let the Spirit flourish and grow, so that we will never tire of the struggle.
Let us remember those who have died for justice, for they have given us life.
Help us love even those who hate us, so we can change the world.
Amen.

Following that, a young woman carried what I would call a smudge pot within and throughout the circle of people, after which one person sang and then everyone joined in the singing of this song:

We were instructed to form a single line so that we could walk safely on the country roads which have very little shoulder.  In the small crowd of all ages which then moved into single line, there was at least one toddler, carried by his mother.  At 1.6 miles was the first rest stop, which had been set up outside at the side of the two-lane country road.  There was a table with breakfast option of a chorizo/egg burrito or a vegan burrito), with donations accepted.  Extraordinary volunteer effort goes into organizing a march of this kind.  There were medics and a portable restroom which moved from rest stop to rest stop.  

At the first rest stop, a tiny boy walked tentatively, full of curiosity, as his mother watched closely over him and the adults stood eating their burritos and talking quietly in the early morning light of rural Whatcom County.

*a ceremony used by movements in Latin America to ground and express their work through spiritual, artistic, and cultural traditions.

"We believe that another world is possible ..."

From Community to Community:

"Join farmworker leaders from Community to Community (C2C) and Familias Unidas por la Justicia (FUJ) in an historic march in rural Whatcom County. The march starts with a sunrise ceremony and mística at Customs and Border Patrol facility in Ferndale, and will proceed past several worksites where H2A workers have been contracted. Then march south on Meridian to Bakerview Rd in Bellingham.


This will be a day long reflection on a day in the life of a farmworker; from the time they start work until their day ends. Walk with us on country roads past acres of raspberry and blueberry fields where the fresh berries that are stocked on your grocery shelves are harvested. See the key component of the local agricultural economy, view corporate and NON-organic mono-agriculture fields and reflect on climate change, a contracted captive labor force, our local food system, community building and labor issues in Whatcom County from a farmworker perspective. We will end around 3pm with our vision of a healthy food system, fair and good for workers and eaters; at C2C's Jardín de Agroecología on Bakerview with a vigil, food and celebration, speakers, and music."