DAVENPORT, IOWA (May 8, 2023) — On Saturday, May 13, the Walk for River Rights will begin at Schwiebert Park (101 17th St, Rock Island, Illinois, 61201) at 11:30AM and close at 12:30PM at the Figge Entrance Plaza (225 W 2nd St, Davenport, Iowa, 52801).
We will walk across the Centennial Bridge in solidarity as one River community advocating for the Rights of the Mississippi River, from the headwaters to the Gulf, and for the rights of all communities whose lives are supported by the waters. All are welcomed and encouraged to attend! A brief introduction and explanation of our convergence will begin at 11:30AM at Schwiebert Park. Please check our event pages on Instagram and Facebook.
The Walk for River Rights is part of The Mississippi River Summit (May 11-14, 2023, Quad Cities, IA-IL), that is centering and advancing the leadership of forty organizers of historically racially-marginalized communities working to protect water, natural places, and sacred spaces. The goal is to build an BIPOC-led coalition from the Mississippi Headwaters to the Gulf of Mexico, and eventually claim the rights of nature for the entire river system and develop an organized frontline group working to protect the Mississippi watershed and all living beings that rely on it as their home. Learn more about the summit on our webpage.
Why are we meeting in Iowa? The state of Iowa has the unique designation of being bordered by the Nation’s two largest rivers, the Mississippi and Missouri. However, water does not adhere to colonial borders and, unfortunately, Iowa is the number-one contributor to the “Dead Zone” in the Gulf of Mexico. Iowa is also the most biologically-colonized state in the country because of Big-Ag, CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feed Operations), meatpacking plants, ethanol production, etc. The Iowa government and Big-Ag need to own up to their part in the suffering of all living things downstream and the bad health of the Mississippi itself.
Great Plains Action Society works to resist and indigenize colonial-capitalist institutions and behaviors. We defend the land where our ancestors lie and where the children walk. Our goal is to reclaim what has been stolen and oppressed to create a better world for us all.
