This Holiday Season, join farmworkers, Silvia Sabanilla, Oscar Otzoy, Lupe Gonzalo, and Lusvi Perez, and allies of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), Rev. Allison Farnum, Rev. Naomi King, Rabbi Lev Meirowitz Nelson, and Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster, in preparing to grow the light of farmworker justice throughout the new year. The season of Hanukkah, Advent, and the Solstice draws us into a time of anticipation and preparation with all who long for release from oppression. Through the Fair Food Program (FFP), the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, together with student and faith allies, kindles the flame of justice for farmworkers in the tomato fields of Immokalee and now on farms across seven states. Sign up today to receive this weekly Holiday reflection series and its calls to action in solidarity with farmworkers!
Winter Solstice Reflection on Farmworker Justice by Rev. Allison Farnum
Rev. Allison Farnum is a Unitarian Universalist minister, serving as Director of the Unitarian Universalist Prison Ministry of Illinois. She serves on the Faith Working Group with the Alliance for Fair Food.
The winter solstice is when the observant lean into the longest night and prepare to welcome the returning of the light. In Immokalee, winter is the time when farmworkers in Florida supply 90% of the nation’s tomatoes. Members of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and their allies have long been calling for a new day of dignity in the fields, inviting buyers to welcome this new day by participating in the fair food program. Yet, it has never been without struggle. And as we approach the longest night this year, oh, has it been a year. The triple pandemic of COVID-19, economic hardship, and racism has revealed itself so clearly in Immokalee, where the basic rights of health care and safe working conditions in essential farm work have been disregarded. Yet CIW presses on, leaning into the struggle and reminding their city, county, state, and the whole world that farmworkers are people, too.
I have learned that the longest night can make the dawn feel brighter. One day, we allies joined CIW on a spring action tour, marching in Mango, Florida. The flatbed truck carrying people and the PA system had been stopped by local law enforcement, though organizers had checked in with all local police in each Floridian county. As we waited, sweating, eager to continue onward, this unwelcome pause generated something beautiful. What could have been a bunch of grumpy, tired, and sweaty activists and allies waiting on the side of the road became something unexpected. Ever so softly, a little salsa music began drifting from the speakers. The beat grew stronger. And suddenly, we were laughing and dancing in the grassy ditches. I looked around at the beauty of resistance, the fruitfulness of struggle, and I knew that I was dancing on holy ground, sweating with delight at being alive and honoring life itself, which I call God.
We are saying goodnight to 2020, and even some of us clergy have a few cuss words under our collars for this particular year. But where have we seen the beauty and resistance in the midst of all the struggle? How does leaning into the beauty of resistance help prepare us to welcome the light? How might you deepen your relationship with growing the light by working in solidarity with the CIW and their allies? As you observe the longest night, this solstice seeks out those who are ready to welcome a new day of dignity.
Meditation/Prayer - (Light a candle in a dark or dimly lit room)
Spirit of Life and love, be with us as we lean into the longest night and wrap us in the nurture of your darkness. We know that seeds wait in the dark, rich earth. We know that stars do not shine without the mysterious void. Let the darkness give us rest and comfort. Prepare our hearts to make room for the new day dawning, where human dignity is recognized in impactful ways in Florida fields and beyond. Please give us the dark's grounded strength to nurture this journey to justice, and may the growing light in the days ahead infuse us with the energy to be in solidarity and stay in the struggle.
As we extinguish this flame, we carry the light forward in our hearts.
Blessed Be.
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Searching for a gift that matters this Holiday season? The CIW, AFF, and FFSC have launched a fundraising campaign to ensure farmworkers across the country receive urgently-needed protections as they continue to harvest our food as the pandemic persists. Every donation helps strengthen the Fair Food Program, which is guaranteeing a healthier, safer, and more dignified workplace for essential farmworkers during this time of crisis. Please consider making a donation by clicking here.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Rev. Allison Farnum is a Unitarian Universalist minister, serving as Director of the Unitarian Universalist Prison Ministry of Illinois. She serves on the Faith Working Group with the Alliance for Fair Food.