Abel and I left Denver at 1AM on Saturday, April 3rd to Join the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign’s “March to Fulfill the Dream“. We drove straight through taking turns sleeping and arrived in New Orleans around 7AM on Sunday, April 4th, the day of the kickoff for the march.

The significance of starting our march on April 4 is that it is the day that Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous speech in 1967 at Riverside Church denouncing the Vietnam war and boldly stating that we must declare an “eternal hostility to poverty”.

Over the next year King was organizing the Poor People’s Campaign with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and a poor people’s march to go from Marks, MS to Washington, DC. One year to the day after King’s Riverside speech he was assassinated. A month later the poor people’s march went forward without King and today, over 30 years later poverty conditions have not improved and have arguably worsened. On April 4, 2010 we began the March to Fulfill the Dream in continuum of King’s last dream of a world without poverty and war.

Here’s a video I took of Cheri Honkala of PPEHRC speaking at our kick-off event.

While in New Orleans we stayed at the Lower 9th Ward Village, an inspirational community center being spearheaded by Ward “Mack” McClendon. I fell in love with this place and made a short video about it.

Five years after Katrina, New Orleans remains in great need of repair and in the lower 9th ward 75% of the people remain displaced. Those who have returned and do not have money are just barely hanging on. Even Mack who runs this amazing community center may lose his home, which he has yet to be able to move back into. I’ll have a video about this and more coming soon.

On our way out of town we stopped at the New Orleans Mission interviewed some of the homeless people there. One person who really broke my heart was Ronald, a homeless Vietnam vet. He is evidence of the destruction from war that continues long after the war “ends”.

Our next stop was Waveland, MS where we met with Katrina survivors who have been in battle to keep their homes. I’ll have a report on this in the coming week. Please check back…

Also, follow the march by visiting the PPEHRC website (this website is a bit confusing but see the “UPDATES” column for the latest posts.

We have many more cities and stories to collect on this march and caravan. We want your involvement. Check out our route and dates. If you have a lead on a story about poverty we should cover along the way, please let us know. We also invite you to collect your own stories and share them with us.

We also will be holding music and cultural events along the way. If you are a musician or artist and would like to participate just let us know.

I can be reached at 303-669-7286

I haven’t been very disciplined for the past several weeks. I’ve been on the road since April 2 and it’s been chaos. The two weeks leading up to my leaving Denver for the “March to Fulfill the Dream” were also nuts. This is no excuse though.

As of 60 days I weighed 178 pounds. I started out at 196 pounds. The first 30 days I lost 13 pounds and the second 30 days I only lost 5 pounds. I had actually lost more than that but then gained a little back.

Feel free to give me shit but please don’t give up on me.

I’ve really been behind and sorry I haven’t posted my daily blog for a while. I have still been working out and trying to watch my eating. I haven’t been perfect. My biggest challenge has been trying to eat 5 or 6 meals a day. I’ve been so busy the past couple  weeks that I only ate 2 meals on some days.

Next week I’m leaving for New Orleans where I will begin the “March to Fulfill the Dream” to Detroit. I’ll be gone for 3 months but still plan on sticking with my fitness program. This week I met with Neil Allman, one of the personal trainers at Qi Denver and he was showing me some running techniques. Since I’ll be on the road and will not have much access to a gym I’ll need to do exercises such as running. Here’s a video from our session.

Today I was able to make it down to Qi Denver Athletic Club. I did 40 minutes on the bike (really pushing myself) and 2000 meters on the row machine (about 8 hard minutes). I also did 2 sets of 20 - lat pulldowns @ 90 lbs, 2 sets of 20 - chest press @ 60 lbs, 2 sets of 20 - shoulder press @ 40 lbs.

3.11.10 FOOD LOG

11:30 AM
yogurt with granola, sliced banana and apple

3:00 PM
Green leaf salad with onion, cucumber, tomato, and balsamic vinegar.

7:30 PM
Mercury Cafe: bean, mushroom, and spinach enchilada. two glasses of red wine.

I was completely swamped today and didn’t get a workout in.

3.10.10 FOOD LOG

10:30 AM
Bowl of fruit with watermelon, melon, cantaloupe, pineapple, grapes, and
blueberries

2:00 PM
Green leaf salad with onion, cucumber, tomato, and balsamic vinegar.

6:30 PM
Hornet Restaurant: Veggie sandwich and sweet potato fries

10:30
Hornet Restaurant: Pita and Hummus, broccoli & cauliflower. 2 shots of infused vodka.

Today I went on a 45 minute mountain hike.

3.9.10 FOOD LOG

10:00 AM
bowl of fruit with watermelon, melon, cantaloupe, pineapple, grapes, and blueberries

2:30 PM
Green leaf salad with black beans, onion, salsa, and avocado

8:15 PM
Pasta and Puttanesca sauce, glass of wine, 2 beers

Today I did 20 minutes on the bike, 1000 meters on the row machine, 30 reps - chest press @ 60 lbs., 30 reps - shoulder press @ 30 lbs., 30 reps - low row @ 60 lbs., 30 reps - vertical traction @ 90 lbs., 30 reps - pectoral @70 lbs.

3.8.10 FOOD LOG

11:00 AM
yogurt with granola, sliced banana and apple

1:30 PM
handful of pistachios

4:45 PM
Green leaf salad with black beans, onion, salsa, and avocado

11:00 PM
bean and cheese enchilada

It wasn’t a great day for my program as I didn’t get a work out in and I had pizza:(

Tomorrow will be much better, I promise.

3.7.10 FOOD LOG

9:40 AM
yogurt with granola, sliced banana and apple

2:20 PM
Spinach and green leaf salad with onion, cucumber, tomato, and balsamic vinegar.

6:00 PM
Usana oatmeal raisin energy bar.

9:00 PM
2 slices of homemade pizza with mozzarella, mushrooms, zucchini, and sun dried tomatoes. 6 breaded mozzarella cheese sticks. 2 Sierra Nevada beers.

I did a 30 minute mountain hike. I also did 3 sets of 25 shoulder press and curls with 25 pound dumbells for each arm.

3.6.10 FOOD LOG

8:00 AM
banana and apple slices with yogurt and granola

12:15 PM
Spinach and green leaf salad with onion, cucumber, tomato, and balsamic vinegar.

7:20 PM
Mercury Cafe - Alamosa bass and a dinner salad with feta dressing. 4 glasses of wine.

Here’s a talk Dr. Gino Strada (co-founder of Emergency) gave in L.A. in 2006. In it he talks about why they founded Emergency and about some of the work they’ve been doing for civilian war victims since 1994.

Today I did a 45 minute hike in the mountains.

3.5.10 FOOD LOG

11:00 AM
Sweet potato hash with salsa and 1 egg

2:00 PM
1 banana

4:30 PM
Green leaf and spinach salad with onion, cucumber, tomato, banana peppers, and red wine vinegar.

8:45 PM
bowl of rice with some Indian Madras Lentils