Farmworker Freedom March, Florida
By: Javier Martinez

Picture 1: This is a group photo of everyone that went on the trip except for me. I took this photo in front of Buc-ee’s convenience store. This chain is known for its immaculately clean restrooms, and it lived up to the hype!

Picture 2: I added in a picture of myself, since I didn’t get to come out on the group photo. I had on my UTPA shirt to represent where we were from.

Picture 3: This is a shot I took during the nighttime segments of our journey. Conversations peppered the night as friends spoke of politics, theology, current events and music.

Picture 4: Hector, one of the companions, is taking his turn to drive. The beanie he’s wearing was hand-knitted by Evan during the 27-hour drive from Texas to Florida.

Picture 5: This is Evan, a fellow photog. This particular picture was when we had already arrived at the march. An undercover police officer can be seen in the back ground in an unmarked vehicle.

Picture 6: Here we see Heather, looking a bit grumpy, paying at a tollbooth. I noticed that almost every tollbooth we had to stop at employed an older person.

Picture 7: This is a seemingly endless highway, one of many that we traveled on out excursion. The trees to the right stood out because there aren’t any like these along the South Texas highways.

Picture 8: These trees looked very lush and the highways were very clean, unlike Louisiana.

Picture 9: In this moment of youthful revelry, Hector decided to urinate in a water jug to break the monotony of the drive. Everyone got a kick out of it except for me, because the Enterprise van was rented with my credit card.

Picture 10: As we approached the rally, we were greeted by a helicopter, which hovered overhead. It was a bit intimidating to be surrounded by dozens of police units and the helicopter.

Picture 11: This flat-bed truck led the march and was equipped with a generator to power a PA system and d.j. who played lively music and motivated the crowd.

Picture 12: The people in the picket line march proudly in front on the Publix supermarket in Tampa. Demonstrators came ready with their homemade signs to convey their thoughts.

Picture 13: The well-known Publix “P” was utilized on shirts and signs to spell out “Poverty.” Claims had been made that Publix, who buys from growers, has encouraged extremely poor working conditions faced by farm-workers in the fields.

Picture 14: A troupe from New York played traditional Central American music with dancers who all followed the lead of the drummer, which they circled.

Picture 15: After marching with the picket line in front of Publix, the musicians set up in a small crevice, which was off Publix property, to perform for the crowd. Spectators sit and stood with their families looking on in awe, undoubtedly because they had never had an opportunity to see anything like the dancers.

Picture 16: The dancers dawned traditional clothing of the indigenous peoples and even had a form of incense burning to further set the mood.

Picture 17: And as the sun sets, marchers try to relax after a long day. The march would continue on for two more days and would end with a rally in front of Publix corporate headquarters.