Dream Defenders overnight forces at the Capitol might be diminishing, but the Hialeah-based protest organization has big plans to stage a rally right where they are, every Friday including this one for an indefinite period of time.
Each rally bigger and better, says LeQuinta Alexander, a Dream Defender from the Florida A&M chapter and a rising senior political science student. Steady progression every day.
The rallies, she said, will involve different organizations and the community. The event today is Faith Day.
We are working on having buses from Tampa, Boca (Raton), Jacksonville and Orlando, said Alexander. Everybody of all faiths, everybody of all races will come together as one because that's what we are one.
We need more faith-based groups to get into the movement, especially the churches, said Jermaine Banks, student organizer with Power U Center for Social Change in Miami.
Power U members have stood side-by-side with the Dream Defenders for the last seven days. The Miami organization lists its mission as this: to organize low-income communities directly impacted by institutional oppression and to build community power to create an equitable and just society.
We are trying to change the injustice in schools and change the school-to-prison pipeline, said Shamacus Carr, a 14-year-old U Power member from Miami. Instead of kids getting suspended from school, they should get something else, like cleaning up the school or working at the school. We do outreach to get more youth, (organize) marches and protests and to restore justice.
Trayvon Martin was also a student from the Miami area, under suspension from his school at the time he was shot and killed in Sanford. We dont want another Trayvon Martin, so just being here is momentous, said Keno Walker, 18, a senior at Miami Beach High School. Martins issues -- being suspended outdoors are the ones Power Us members are working to change, he said.
Dream Defenders, whose leader Phillip Agnew tweeted to the world last weekend that the state was trying to starve the protest out, say they will not be eating at all during the daytime Friday. They will fast on their faith-based rally day. But as the sun goes down and the doors of the Capitol lock for the weekend, they will begin their feast.
Food and drinks will be served before sunrise and after sunset, similar to the Muslim Ramadan tradition, they said.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar; Muslims worldwide observe this as a month of fasting. Muslims refrain from consuming food and liquids and engaging in other activities to exercise restraint.
Today, on the 18th day of the Capitol protest, events will begin at noon with the Dream Defenders mock session on racial profiling in Gov. Rick Scotts office.
Cost for security incurred by the protest, which began accruing July 15, stands at $97,344. As of July 31, 17 participants remained in the Capitol overnight.
Miami native Marcus Joseph, a Tallahassee freelance reporter and videographer, is a 2011 graduate of Florida A&M University. He served an internship at Sunshine State News in 2011.
