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TRUTH TOUR UPDATES
Massive
rally at Taco Bell headquarters, Irvine 3/5
More photos/text from march and rally 3/5
ELA to Irvine March: Day 3
ELA to
Irvine March: Day 2
ELA to
Irvine March: Day 1
Day 5 Albuquerque - AZ
Day 4 St Louis - Oklahoma
Day 3 Louisville YUM HQ!
Day 2 Atlanta - Nashville
Day 1 Immokalee - Atlanta
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Slavery, Florida Agriculture, and the 2004 Taco Bell Truth Tour - Just as the Truth Tour gathers momentum, a major new report makes headlines across the country- about the epidemic of slavery in Florida's fields. Read the story on CNN: Report: Modern-day slavery alive and well in Florida. And for the Yum Brands executives still insisting they need yet another study on farm labor conditions in Florida's tomato fields, read the report by the Center for the Advancement of Human Rights. They may want to pay special attention to Chapter 2, Page 17: "Trafficking for Forced Agricultural Labor".
Workers and allies left Immokalee early Wednesday morning, bouyed by yet
more good news about the tour's centerpiece rally at Taco Bell corporate
headquarters in Irvine on March 5th... Lila Downs (r),
the Oaxacan-born singer whose hauntingly beautiful voice graced the Oscar-winning
soundtrack of the 2002 hit fim "Frida," has confirmed for March
5th, joining a musical line-up already bursting with some of the country's
leading activist artists. Of her extraordinary voice, the LA Times wrote,
"Imagine Edith Piaf singing in Spanish and you have the idea of the
soulful sound of Lila Downs." Read
more about the latest Truth Tour news...
PRE-TOUR NEWS AND UPDATES: TRUTH TOUR RALLY SHAPING
UP TO BE A REAL MUSICAL HAPPENING!... As workers in Immokalee pack
their bags and prepare to hit the road, artists are getting into gear as
well for what is sure to be an unforgettable rally outside Taco Bell headquarters
on March 5th.
We just got confirmation that Tom Morello and Boots Riley will not only perform on the 5th, but will take the stage together for a powerful show of music and politics!
At the same time, Over the Counter Intelligence out of Ft. Lauderdale, shown here on the right at their performance following the Root Cause March at the FTAA meetings in November, have been hard at work and have put together a remix of last year's hunger strike anthem, Hunger Days, called "Endless Pangs". To check out the new cut, brought to you by JG and Havikenhayes and recorded by their new LA-based co-conspirator, Vibe One, click on the 20-sec. mp3 excerpt below - enjoy!:
Endless Pangs - The Hunger Days Remix
CIW
MEMBERS GETTING READY FOR 2004 TRUTH TOUR... CIW
members met this past weekend to start making their final preparations for
the tour, set to hit the road in less than two weeks. From rules for the
road to protest art, CIW members began the detailed work of organizing the
cross-country trip involving over 100 workers from Immokalee, tens of thousands
of allies across the country, two major marches and rallies, and tons of
equipment, food, banners, signs, and tech supplies. Here,
on the left, CIW members work on a unique piece of protest art that Taco
Bell executives are sure to remember for some time to come.
2004 Tour becoming an event to remember! Tom Morello (L) and Boots Riley (R) -- two artists known as much for their passionate commitment to economic justice as for their award-winning music -- have confirmed that they will be there with the CIW on March 5th at the rally
outside Taco Bell 
corporate
headquarters in Irvine, CA. Tom Morello is the lead guitarist of the band Audioslave and a founding member of the historic band Rage Against the Machine, which set new standards for political activism in the world of rock music.
Boots Riley is a hip-hop artist from the Bay Area with The Coup who has shaped a unique career since the early 1990's -- combining a long history of successful grassroots activism with music so good that The Coup's latest album, "Party Music," was called the "#1 Album of the Year" by the Washington Post and Boots himself named "Best Hip-Hop Artist" by Rolling Stone Magazine.
Both Tom and Boots recently performed together on the
"Tell us the Truth Tour," the cross-country
musical event that carried a message of freedom from corporate domination
of the media from Madison, WI, to Miami, FL, where the tour was part of
the protests against the FTAA 
meetings
in November.
They join Dolores Huerta (R), co-founder of the UFW and a widely-respected leader in the broader civil rights movement in the US, and Eric Schlosser, author of the New York Times bestseller "Fast Food Nation," in lending their presence to the upcoming march and rally, and by so doing truly lifting this year's event to a new level. Excitment is building, from Louisville to LA, for what is sure to be an unforgettable tour!
Updates will begin when the tour starts on Feb. 25th. Check back then!
Until then, check out the Media Advisory for the latest on Truth Tour plans... click here.