Videos by Reform Immigration FOR America and Odyssey Networks.

On March 21st, 2010, more than two hundred thousand people, including legal and undocumented immigrants as well as US citizens, from over 30 states around the country, came to the National Mall in Washington, DC to attend a rally for comprehensive immigration reform. The rally was well organized. Three giant screens were set up in the mall allowing most rally attendees to see what was going on on the stage.

The rally featured many high profile speakers, including religious leaders such as President of the National Council of Churches Rev. Peg Chemberlin and Cardinal Roger Mahony of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Senator Robert Menendez and Congressional members such as Congressmen Luis Gutierrez and Michael Honda, African-American leaders such as Rev. Jesse Jackson and President of the NAACP Benjamin Jealous, labor unions leaders such as Executive Vice President of SEIU Eliseo Medina, leaders of various civil rights groups such as National Council of La Raza President and CEO Janet Murgía, leaders of various immigrants rights groups such as New York Immigration Coalition Executive Director Chung-Wha Hong, and representatives from many other groups advocating for human rights, civil rights, immigrants rights (including immigrant students’ rights), the most surprising and exciting among them, MoveOn Executive Director Justin Ruben.

Also speaking at the rally were representatives of the people this rally was for. They were people who are facing deportation or may face deportation or whose family members have been deported or are facing deportation, as well as students who can not afford to go to college because of their immigration status.

Many speakers spoke Spanish only. I do not know Spanish. But one of the speakers who spoke Spanish only drove me to tears even though I could not understand what she was saying. I was moved by the tone of her voice, which revealed deep emotions.

A recording of President Obama’s message for the rally attendees was also played on the giant screens.

Among those who attended the rally were people like members of Families For Freedom, a mixture of immigrants in legal limbo, undocumented immigrants, US citizens and legal immigrants who are affected by US immigration policies because they are related to immigrants who are affected, and US citizens who support the rights of immigrants. Most of them came in groups representing cities and towns, churches, non-profit organizations, unions, etc.

Also presented at the rally were members of NumberUSA, an anti-immigrants group, and some anti-war activists who lamented that those who attended the immigration rally did not attend the anti-war rally the day before. I did not see either group at the rally myself. But their videos showed up on YouTube after the event. I think there are gaps between these two groups and the immigration reform advocates to be bridged.

The rally was so big and lasted for so long, there is no way anyone can tell you everything that has happened at the rally. Just getting a complete list of the rally speakers is not possible. Neither is it possible to find out how many groups from how many places in the US came to the rally.

The rally ended with live musical performance on the stage, when the march formally started.

The march probably lasted for about two hours. It was a longer march than most marches in Washington DC, I think. The march was also much bigger in size, compared to ones that I have attended before. The weather was good, thank God. And the best of all, Washington DC residents welcomed us. I saw them waving to us along the march. And I found YouTube videos showing some DC residents handing out drinking water to the people in the march, which is something new to me. I have been to many marches in Washington, DC. But I have never seen that before.

“A federal judge refused Friday to dismiss a civil lawsuit accusing former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld of responsibility for the alleged torture by U.S. forces of two Americans who worked for an Iraqi contracting firm.” – Read more here.

It is unfortunate that it has to take two Americans being tortured by American forces for Rumsfeld to be indicted. But it is better than Rumsfeld not being indicted ever.

Read the full news report on FeetInTwoWorlds.com.

“Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) has pulled together a group of five Republicans and eight Democrats who plan to introduce a special resolution on the House floor compelling the president to comply with the War Powers Act as he wages war in Afghanistan.” – Read more on HuffingtonPost.

I am not able to embed Huffington Post’s video. So please watch the video there: “Elizabeth Warren speaks with Michael Moore“.

“If you eat feedlot meat, chances are you may be eating chicken waste! Cattle in feedlots across the United States are routinely fed waste from the floors of commercial chicken houses. In fact, 1 billion pounds of feces, feathers, spilled feed, straw, dirt and anything else on the floor under the cramped birds are shoveled in front of cattle on feedlots across America each year.”

“Additionally, chickens are fed meat and bone meal from cattle, which in turn increases the risk of infecting cattle with mad cow disease when the cycle revolves and the cattle are fed chicken wastes.”

Read the complete article “Feedlot Cows Fed 1 Billion Pounds of Chicken Waste Yearly” by Andrew Aviza on care2.com.