Day Seven: Americus 11.15.07

We rolled into historic Koinonia Farms around 3am after the long drive from St. Simons Island. It should be noted that Koinonia is not only the birth place for Habitat for Humanity and Jubilee Partners, it’s also the birth place of the Georgia Peace & Justice Coalition. Sanders Thornberg, who was our local host/organizer, met us in the morning and we followed him out to the exhibit site. We set up the “Eyes Wide Open” exhibit right across the street from Habitat For Humanity international headquarters located in the middle of downtown Americus. Without a shadow of a doubt we experienced the most hostility there than at any stop we’ve made so far. The ease with which Bush supporters were able to ignore the symbolic boots of our state’s fallen soldiers was shocking and troubling. The Americus Times Reporter showed up and promised a front page story, Christina did a great job during the interview. Later channel 10, the south Georgia NBC affiliate, showed up and interviewed me. The crew spent a long time filming the boots and even asked if Witt would play a song. We were all skeptical about what footage would end up being used.

A man in uniform showed up and began walking amongst the boots. I introduced myself. It was clear that he wasn’t sure how he felt about our presence. He told me that he was going to be sent to Afghanistan in a month and that he was nervous. He told me that most in his unit felt betrayed by George W. Bush. He asked if I would help him find a friend of his who was killed in Iraq. We found the boots with his friend's name on them. I could no longer hold back tears. He took a moment of silence and a few pictures. He thanked us and encouraged us to keep it up. We shook hands and he was on his way.

Later that evening we set up the concert back at Koinonia Farms. We all felt so great being able to have the music in a more friendly environment. Koinonia is such a warm, peaceful place. Christina & I gave a brief talk on our experiences on the road so far. Witt played another fantastic set. As we were making our closing statements Fredando asked to come to the mic for the first time on the tour. He was clearly overwhelmed with the emotion and spirit that surrounded the Koinonia museum. His words brought many to tears.

Later that evening we discovered that Channel 10 made our story their lead story and promoted it all night long. Sanders taped it for us and we watched it together. It was great! They really did the story justice. We also made the front page of the Americus Times Reporter with a good picture! THANKS CHANNEL 10 & THANKS KOINONIA! Click here for a link to footage from the news.

Tim Franzen
Georgia Peace& Justice Coalition

Photos by Christina Repoley and Witt Wisebram