Activists protest Burger King in Miami

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers kicked off the protest Friday morning outside the downtown Miami headquarters of Goldman Sachs, one of the private equity firms that own a stake in Burger King. The group then headed north on Biscayne Boulevard. At the peak of the daylong march, which stretched nine miles, there were about 600 people marching through the streets of Miami.

Coalition of Immokalee Workers
http://www.ciw-online.org/2007_BK_March/index.html

The migrant workers who couldn't come to Miami on Friday because they feared losing their jobs sent their worn shoes which lined the median across from Burger King's Miami corporate headquarters next to a sign, ``Doubt our poverty. Walk in Our Shoes.''

The shoes were just one visual symbol in the protest and rally organized by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. The aim is to expose  the unfair wages and working conditions in the fields where Burger King's tomatoes are picked by migrant workers.

Read the Palm Beach Post special report on babies who were born disfigured to mothers and fathers who work in Florida's pesticide laden fields ~
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/news/speci ...

The "Exploitation King" protest brought together union members, student activists, religious groups, migrant workers and others.

The newly revived Gainesville Students for a Democratic Society organized two vans to join the protest on the streets of Miami.  

Gainesville SDS is doing a good job.   On October 23rd in Gainesville, in honor of the national day of action "No War No Warming," Gainesville SDS marched to the steps of Tigert Hall (UF Administration Building) to demand the University of Florida stop funding war profiteering and environmentally destructive corporations.

After the UF event, Gville SDS and community members marched down W. University Avenue to City Hall to protest Gainesville Regional Utilities' proposed  biomass plant, the approval process for which was unanimously approved by the  City Commission on October 8th.

The marching students carried a stretcher that held a small block of ice, which symbolized the last remaining ice sheet in the Arctic. Other students carried a coffin symbolizing the end of our forests.

Former Gainesville Mayor Tom Bussing and I drove behind the line of protesters.  From the steps of City Hall, Tom spoke in opposition to the proposed wood and garbage burner and in favor of conservation, efficiency and solar.

It was a fun event.  We were delighted that UF students were involved in local political environmental matters, the first I've seen in all my years in Gainesville.

You can read a little more about the Gville SDS event here ~

UF students march for change
http://www.gainesvillesun.com/article/20071023/NEWS/71023 ...

Read about the Miami "Exploitation King" protest and see the slide show here ~
http://www.miamiherald.com/103/story/327600.html

The plight of South Florida sugarcane workers is similar to those toiling in the toxic tomato fields.

The video, 'The Hidden Story of Big Sugar" takes the position that, other than gold, no single substance has had a bigger hand in shaping the history of the western hemisphere than sugar. The video shows the dark history and modern power of the world's reigning sugar cartels.

The Fanjuls, the Fanjul sugarcane operations in Florida and the Dominican Republic, Bill Clinton and Carl Hiaasen are featured in the film.  

The Hidden Story of Sugar can be viewed here ~
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/1 ...

Also read about THE PRICE OF SUGAR, narrated by Paul Newman ~
http://www.thepriceofsugar.com/press.shtml

and

The Sugar Babies
http://www.sugarbabiesfilm.com/cgi-local/content.cgi?p=10 ...

And finally, you've got to hear our "New State of Florida Song" by Grant Peeples.

Grant has four terrific Florida songs on this MySpace link
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.view ...

Grant's website is ~
http://www.grantpeeples.com

Karen Orr
Gainesville, Florida

I forgot to include a few lines in Grant Peeple's "New State of Florida Song."

"We've got federally subsidized sugar plantations
That are bigger n' richer than most European nations

They own the politicians and hire all the Haitians
And that's what ya call a SWEET DEAL"

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.view ...

The lyrics to some of Grant's songs are on his website
http://www.grantpeeples.com

pays for this one with a consumer backlash.

In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world