A group of Southwest Floridians rallied Tuesday in opposition to Gov. Rick Scott and his backers at Centennial Park in Downtown Fort Myers. More than a hundred people, of all ages, gathered on the opening of the 2017 legislative session for the annual Awake the State rally.
Though Progress Florida coordinates the statewide event each year, Lee County Democratic Party Chairman Yoseph Tedros said this year’s rally focused on changing current state legislation for the middle class.
“Clean air, clean water, a living wage — those are the things we want our legislators to concentrate on, not giving tax breaks for the people who have so much money they don’t know what to do with it,” Tedros said.
Tedros was first to address the crowd, rallying them before introducing the event’s nearly dozen speakers.
“It’s time to wake the state and stand up for this unjust, inhumane, un-American policies,” Tedros said.
Cape Coral City Councilwoman Jessica Cosden addressed the crowd with her dissatisfaction with what she calls the intolerant legislation of the current state administration. She says there are better causes they could be focusing on instead.
“I can think of a short list if they’re looking for something to do,” Cosden said, “education funding, supporting our veterans, furthering equality rather than inhibiting it, protecting clean water. I can go on, but I think you all truly understand the important issues.”
In his State of the State address Tuesday afternoon, Gov. Rick Scott said the state’s focus should be mending its economy.
“We have to do more than just cut taxes to ensure we have a strong economy for the future,” Scott said. “We can not be short sighted and think we are immune from another national recession in years ahead. We have to keep diversifying our economy and invest in programs that actually help businesses grow jobs right here in Florida.”
After covering the topics of healthcare and women’s rights at the Fort Myers rally, the president of the Teacher’s Association of Lee County, Mark Castellano, talked about his personal experience with immigration.
“I’ve been teaching for 37 years,” Castellano said. “I never one time had a student walk into my classroom where I wondered, ‘Where are you from? Are you here legally?’ Does it matter? No. You’re in my classroom. I’m going to teach you, and I’m going to love you. And, I’m going to care about you, and I’m going to do what I need to do for you.”
He went on to criticize the Trump administration’s narrative he says adds to the unnecessary dislike of immigrants and other minority populations in the United States.
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ farm worker leader, Nelly Rodriguez, also spoke about issues facing the middle and working class.
“Trabajadores de el campo, por muchos años, nosotros tambien sabemos lo que el vivir sin derecho a la salud,” Rodriquez said. “Sabemo muy bien lo que es vivir sin el derecho de una educacion buena.”
She said, “We farm workers, for many years, have also known what it is like to live without healthcare rights. We know very well what it’s like to live without a right to a good education.”
Awake the State events like this one began in 2011 when the group’s Facebook page went viral. Six years and many rallies later, organizers still hope to gain a budget in which equal access to healthcare, a clean environment, higher quality public education and human rights would be guaranteed in Florida.
