Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Day 4: Hibbing
We woke up at six o'clock am to members of Lawron Presbyterian Church already in the kitchen preparing pancakes and sausages. While we ate breakfast, we spoke with one of the parisioners about his experiences in Vietnam and the medical issues he suffered afterward, along with his fears that GIs suffer similar or worse treatment now. After effusively thanking them and presenting them with t-shirts, we hit the road to Hibbing. We stopped thirteen miles from Hibbing at around eight o'clock am and prepared ourselves to march, which included assembling our heavy, makeshift billboard to drag along with us.
We marched approximately ten miles under a potent sun into Hibbing, recieving many supportive honks along the way. We found out as we entered town that a front page article in the local paper, the Hibbing Daily Tribune, had roused local interest and support for our visit. Along the route, we were startled when a local woman, who had been on public assistance herself in the 80's, pulled over and told us she had looked for us on the highway, but had just found us. She had to leave quickly but found us later, talked to us and gave us money for food. In downtwn Hibbing, we met O Jay, a long time homeless local who allowed us to videotape him telling his story and marched the rest of the way to Bennet Park with us. We also encountered Chris Buckley from Channel 11, who immediately began filming us marching the streets and chanting. After resting briefly at the park, we made our way to the Salvation Army, where we met Chris and Mike Jennings of the Hibbing Daily Tribune, who interviewed Cheri and expressed interest in following up on local sotries of poverty and degradation.
O.J. Sanders from Hibbing tells how his mother has had her utilities shut off on her and will be evicted from her home after being foreclosed on.
We proceeded to eat at the Salvation Army and spoke at length with local folks. O Jay loaned us his laptop and we sat outside accessing the internet to read email and post crucial updates. We also met Cedric, from Cass Lake, who had left the reservation with his family at a young age and now finds himself isolated as one of the few Native Americans living in Hibbing. Many of us spoke with Victor, a volunteer at the Salvation Army, about his long history of participation in social movements such as the Black Panther Party in southern California.
Hibbing Press Conference
Just following the press conference outside of the Salvation Army, we were joined by Liz Ortiz, a long time member of PPEHRC and the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, from Philadelphia. From there we proceeded to Chisholm Baptist Church, where we unloaded our things and had a meeting to plan the strategy for the coming days. The pastor of Chisholm Baptist graciously lent us his office computer as well as his personal laptop. After the meeting and brief work at the computer, we took a chance to rest our legs, take showers, play pool and watch movies.
We marched approximately ten miles under a potent sun into Hibbing, recieving many supportive honks along the way. We found out as we entered town that a front page article in the local paper, the Hibbing Daily Tribune, had roused local interest and support for our visit. Along the route, we were startled when a local woman, who had been on public assistance herself in the 80's, pulled over and told us she had looked for us on the highway, but had just found us. She had to leave quickly but found us later, talked to us and gave us money for food. In downtwn Hibbing, we met O Jay, a long time homeless local who allowed us to videotape him telling his story and marched the rest of the way to Bennet Park with us. We also encountered Chris Buckley from Channel 11, who immediately began filming us marching the streets and chanting. After resting briefly at the park, we made our way to the Salvation Army, where we met Chris and Mike Jennings of the Hibbing Daily Tribune, who interviewed Cheri and expressed interest in following up on local sotries of poverty and degradation.
O.J. Sanders from Hibbing tells how his mother has had her utilities shut off on her and will be evicted from her home after being foreclosed on.
We proceeded to eat at the Salvation Army and spoke at length with local folks. O Jay loaned us his laptop and we sat outside accessing the internet to read email and post crucial updates. We also met Cedric, from Cass Lake, who had left the reservation with his family at a young age and now finds himself isolated as one of the few Native Americans living in Hibbing. Many of us spoke with Victor, a volunteer at the Salvation Army, about his long history of participation in social movements such as the Black Panther Party in southern California.
Hibbing Press Conference
Just following the press conference outside of the Salvation Army, we were joined by Liz Ortiz, a long time member of PPEHRC and the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, from Philadelphia. From there we proceeded to Chisholm Baptist Church, where we unloaded our things and had a meeting to plan the strategy for the coming days. The pastor of Chisholm Baptist graciously lent us his office computer as well as his personal laptop. After the meeting and brief work at the computer, we took a chance to rest our legs, take showers, play pool and watch movies.
Labels: Hibbing, March for Our Lives 2008, MN Caravan
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