| TACO
BELL TRUTH TOUR -- DAY ONE
5:00 am in Immokalee, and the Truth Tour riders gathered at the
CIW for a final roll call before climbing aboard the two tour
buses for the cross-country protest.
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Between backpacks and tomato buckets, the buses were packed to
the gills before finally heading out of town about 8 in the morning
(only 1 hr late...).
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But all that packing proved useful once the tour hit its first
stop, for a Taco Bell protest at the University of Florida in
Gainesvilee (the restaurant is just visible in the background
on the left of this photo).
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Immokalee-style protest art filled the campus, as the roaming
action wrapped up at the Taco Bell and worked its way across campus
to the central plaza...
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The protest morphed into a march...
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...
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... and the march into a mob...
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...
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... that invaded the central plaza just as classes let out and
students made their way to the next period's class.
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And so the action that started as a Taco Bell protest and became
a march shifted once again into a rally...
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... a major mid-day rally that caught the
attention of the press (Gainesville TV and UF press)... |
... and gave a powerful injection of energy
and, most importantly, Immokalee reality into the UF students' critical
campaign to Boot the Bell from the UF campus! All in all, an excellent
start to the tour. Next stop, Atlanta, on the way to Louisville and
Friday's march and rally at Yum Brands headquarters! |
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