Marchers from Immokalee were ready to roll bright and early Friday morning for final three-mile leg of the march.
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And allies started arriving bright and early as well, including this bus of reinforcements from the Bay Area that arrived for the march.
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In a brief rally before taking the streets one last time, Arturo Rodriguez shared some encouraging words with the crowd...
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... And he was joined by Lila Downs, who not only came to perform, but also march with us for three miles on the way to the rally!
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Arturo, Lila, and Rev. Noelle Damico of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) helped lead the march back into the street...
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... where the marchers unfurled a two block-long strings of Taco Bell's dirty laundry -- the same sweat-stained, soiled workclothes hung on Yum Brands' security fence in Louisville on the 27th. Apparently no one at Yum wanted the clothes, so we picked them up and recycled them for the march on Taco Bell.
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Crowds of allies awaited the march as it made its way along the route, eager to fall in behind and carry the marchers all the way into Taco Bell's headquarters...
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... their appearance along the route lifted weary marchers spirits to new heights!
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As it did along the other 41 miles of the march, music kept us moving forward.
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And move forward we did, drawn inexorably toward our date with the fast-food giant.
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At almost every turn, groups stood along the road awaiting the marchers arrival, cheering them on then joining the parade down Irvine's corporate corridors of power...
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... and as they did, the march just kept getting bigger, and bigger...
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Until finally we turned the corner onto Von Karman, the street where Taco Bell lives. Here, three Taco Bell security personnel have a nice view of our message for their bosses.
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A message carried by an ever-expanding crowd...
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... That finally poured into the rally space just after noon.
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We were greeted there by the best MC's in the business -- here you see Jaribu Hill, Director of the Mississippi Workers Center, who was joined by Pedro Olguin for the second consecutive year and kept the rally rocking and on time, no easy task, with humor and a fiery commitment to justice.
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And getting the rally started as only they can -- Slowrider, the LA-based band that gets the crowd moving like no other band on the program, bar none, with a stage presence and passion that grabs your attention and won't let go...
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And JG of Over the Counter Intelligence, the hip hop artists/activists out of Ft. Lauderdale whose message and intensity have brought the group to the verge of a national breakthrough. After their performance at Friday's rally, keep your eyes out for a major release before long from the group that brought you the hunger strike anthem, "Hunger Days".
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