Thousands of people lined Auburn Avenue in downtown Atlanta to celebrate the birthday of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. They watched and cheered on the march, the main event marking the annual King Day Celebration.

The event traditionally has numerous contingents of trade unionists, and they composed a larger part of the parade. At least 15 different labor organizations participated this year.

Groups of unionists intermixed with high school marching bands and various political groups pressing their demands. Civic and parent/teacher organizations, Boy Scouts, step groups, drum and dance troupes, fraternities, and others also joined in.

What onlookers had not seen in previous annual marches was a contingent of about 30 Black farmers, many clad in the green hats and T-shirts donning the name and logo of the Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association, or BFAA.

Together they, along with about 40 Teamsters on strike at Overnite trucking in their red union T-shirts, formed the head of the march. The strikers were predominantly from Teamsters Local 728 in Atlanta, who have been on strike since the end of October.

Prior to the march, the farmers organized a breakfast and BFAA meeting to discuss the obstacles they are encountering in receiving compensation for past injustices and racist practices by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). About 80 people, mostly working farmers from a dozen different states, attended the meeting.

The farmers are protesting the fact that the USDA has not carried out the terms of the consent decree of the class action lawsuit on their behalf that was settled last year. Farmers were to receive both financial compensation and debt relief for years of loan denials and foreclosures that could be traced to the racist policies of the USDA. To this date, according to these farmers, very little of either has been carried out.

Marvin Sanderlin, who farms 1,700 acres of cotton, corn, and soybeans, was one of a delegation of 10 Tennessee farmers. He explained the greatest number of Black farmers reside in western Tennessee, and out of those, his county of Haywood has the most. He's waiting to hear about his claim, saying, "Most of the farmers I know have been turned down. None have been approved in Haywood county. The consent decree didn't say anything about debt relief, it's just another way to sweep all this under the rug."

When asked what he thought farmers needed to do to get justice, Sanderlin replied, "If I could, I would sit down with about 400 other farmers for six months and they would recognize the value of our farming."

Many farmers at the meeting made the point that what's needed is more united action to demand justice from the USDA. Jeff Hawkins, a livestock and vegetable farmer from North Carolina, said, "Lately we've been ending up in a lot of these places," referring to the march.

The farmers marched directly behind the contingent of Teamsters on strike at Overnite trucking. Jerry Wilson, with nine years at Overnite in Atlanta, said, "The union is real strong. I have faith in the union. If it wasn't for the union we wouldn't be as strong as we are today, just as if it wasn't for Martin Luther King, Jr., we wouldn't be as strong today."

Morale and a fighting spirit was high in the midst of this battalion of fighters. Allen Aultman, from Macon, Georgia, with eight years at Overnite, said, "If we get a contract with Overnite we will really be strong. Not only workers at Overnite, but workers around the country because many nonunion workers are interested in what is going on at Overnite."

Other political groups present at the march put forth their demands as well. Individual participants carried signs defending affirmative action. About 70 youthful supporters of Mumia Abu Jamal, a Black political activist who was framed-up by Philadelphia cops and is facing execution, formed a contingent.

Yemane Gebre, an airline mechanic at Northwest Airlines for four years and member of the Airline Mechanics Fraternal Association in Atlanta, explained that he and a number of other Ethiopian nationals were marching to "protest the dictator Esayas Afeworki, president of Eritrea, and U.S. support for him." Gebre says the Ethiopian community in Atlanta numbers about 10,000.

Members of the Socialist Workers Party and Young Socialists marched carrying a banner demanding, "Justice for Black Farmers, Support Overnite Strikers, Organize the South, For a Workers and Farmers Government." The banner was pictured prominently on the web site of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in their coverage of the march the next day.

As the BFAA contingent marched chanting, "No farms, no food; no justice, no peace," the crowd would join in, often continuing the chant as the farmers caught their breath. Many in attendance were made aware of the farmers' fight for justice for the first time.

Tony Godfrey, a truck driver from Atlanta on strike at Overnite, said, "The pressure they're putting on people to work harder and longer is killing people. But the working man is fighting back for a change. We won't be treated this way."

Godfrey added, "But unions are coming back and they're in for a fight. We can't stop until we come out on top. We need to stick to our guns and stay in until the end."

Rollande Girard in Miami contributed to this article.  
 
 
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