A group of teenagers are meeting at a ranch in Immokalee Saturday — and they want you to join them.
For young organizers in Immokalee, the upcoming Nuestra Tierra festival is meant to be a chance to teach neighbors about voting and celebrate a community they said has endured years of hardship.
"Students Advocating for Change," a youth-led nonprofit founded by Sol Reyes, is organizing the festival. Most of the organizers are high school and college students, many of whom recently became eligible to vote. Reyes said the group began planning the festival in May after seeing what he described as increased pressure on farmworker and immigrant families in Immokalee, including the detention of people they know.
“We wanted to celebrate our community’s perseverance, but also spread consciousness about what was going on,” Reyes said.
The first half of the festival, from 2 to 6 p.m., will focus on education and organizing. Student-led workshops will cover topics such as power mapping, base building and how to organize groups and events. One workshop, ‘my land, my community, my vote,’ will use role-playing to explore common voting questions and scenarios, including what happens if immigration agents were to appear at a polling place.
“Originally, it was just about the community’s perseverance,” Reyes said. “But then it ended up showing -- how can we make a tangible impact? Voter education was that aspect that we needed.”
At 6 p.m., the tone will shift. The evening half will feature live performances, food, local vendors and an open mic. Reyes says the celebratory portion is intended to give residents a space to relax amid the pressures many families currently face.
“For a lot of us, it’s about relief,” Reyes said. “We want to be able to share that community, share that music, share that space in a way that we can all feel comfortable and safe.”
Nuestra Tierra will be held from 2 to 10 p.m. on Aug. 22 at Roberts Ranch in Immokalee. The event is free and open to the public.
WGCU is your trusted source for news and information in Southwest Florida. We are a nonprofit public service, and your support is more critical than ever. Keep public media strong and donate now. Thank you.
