Harsh reality of hatred and division shatters celebration of unity, justice... One Saturday, two Americas… The joy of a late summer visit by CIW staff and family members to Washington, DC, and the Smithsonian Museum of American History, where the CIW’s re-interpretation of the Statue of Liberty (above, rear) resides on permanent display, was shattered this past Saturday by the news of the mass shooting in El Paso, TX, by a gunman sickened by hate and moved to action by the growing wave of voices demonizing and dehumanizing immigrants. Harsh reality of hatred and division shatters celebration of unity, justice as two starkly opposed visions of the future clash in one Saturday afternoon… Today we had planned to post a photo report from the CIW’s visit to DC over this past weekend, a celebration of the CIW’s decades-long fight for dignity and justice for the workers who put food on America’s tables, centered around a visit to the CIW’s Statue of Liberty at the Smithsonian’s Museum of American History. But Saturday’s events in El Paso, Texas, derailed those plans. The post was going to begin with photos and reflections from stops at monuments dedicated to those who led our nation through difficult times toward a more perfect union: From there, we were going to take you inside the Smithsonian’s newest exhibit, where two of the museum’s curators – Barbara Clark Smith and Steve Velasquez, pictured here below, with the CIW statue in the background – kindly took the CIW contingent on a personalized tour… … ending in front of our own Lady Liberty, where we reflected on the statue’s significance in today’s divided America: We were going to write that post, and it was going to be a brief, but timely, reminder in an age of deepening discord of the remarkable things we can achieve when we – farmworkers and consumers, immigrants and allies – come together across cultural, social, and economic divides to demand justice. It was going to be a reminder that, as often as not, history is made not only by the powerful, but by everyday people who, just like those powerful leaders whose names ring out through history, also believe deeply in the dream of an ever-more perfect union. And then a very sick young man from Plano, Texas, traveled west to El Paso at the Mexican border, gathered his semi-automatic assault rifle and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and set off for a local Walmart to kill 22 innocent people and injure dozens more in an effort to fight back against what he – and President Trump – termed an “invasion” of Latino immigrants. After El Paso, this became a post on the question of what “America” even means anymore... Check out CIW's MUST-READ full reflection on the events of this past weekend over at the CIW website. Coalition of Immokalee Workers (239) 657 8311 | [email protected] | www.ciw-online.org Connect with us ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ A copy of the CIW's official registration and financial information may be obtained from the Florida Division of Consumer Services by calling toll-free 1-800-HELP-FLA (435-7352). Registration does not imply endorsement, approval, or recommendation by the state. The website for the Florida Division of Consumer Services is [link removed] Coalition of Immokalee Workers | 110 S 2nd St, Immokalee, FL 34142 Unsubscribe [email protected] About Constant Contact Sent by [email protected] in collaboration with Try email marketing for free today!