The People’s Caravan for Medicaid Expansion

Announcing a special event to be held on Presidents Day, Monday February 19, 2018

We are calling on all Virginians to join our People’s Caravan for Medicaid Expansion. Cars, trucks and motorcycles will join together in caravans from the four corners of Virginia to travel planned routes through towns, villages, and rural countryside until reaching the state Capitol in Richmond. The purpose is to extend Medicaid coverage to more than 400,000 people who cannot afford healthcare,

Each route will span more than 150 miles and include stops at about a dozen places where the caravaners–grandmothers and grandfathers, children, and concerned citizens of every stripe–will gather with people waiting to greet them and announce the need for healthcare coverage for all.

The Caravan will collect messages from citizens to our lawmakers. Leave a message here on this online form. Or help collect them through message boxes.

NOTE: The Lists and Routes below will be updated as we get more volunteers to sign on to the People’s Caravan project. We need people to help (Volunteer Sign Up) with outreach to other groups, planning, materials and graphic design, logistics, and publicity.

Northern Route

Winchester > Berryville, Purcellville > Leesburg > Centreville > Mannassass > Haymarket > Warrenton > Fredericksburg > Richmond

Contacts: Indivisible Winchester David Pratt pratt.david@gmail.com, Indivisible Loudoun, Indivisible NoVa West

ROUTE #1 TIMETABLE (See this post)

Eastern Route

Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Hampton, Williamsburg, looking for a Mechanicsville

Contact: Kimberly Anne Tucker

ROUTE #2 TIMETABLE (See this post)

Arlington Route (See this Post)

Western Route (need owner)

Stones Will Make the Pilgrimage Too

In this photo taken Oct. 10, 2010, Irasema Laverde places a stone at the bottom of La Cruz de Ferro, an iron cross in northern Spain. Laverde, a Christian pilgrim from England, said she walks all day thinking about her loved ones and prays ill relatives will speedily recover. The pilgrimage known as the Camino de Santiago, Spanish for the Way of St. James, has existed for more than 1,000 years. (AP Photo/Maya Hasson)

We will gather messages on paper slips, postcards, stationary. Here is an idea on how to get a lot of them fast.

Also consider writing messages on stones or notes tied to stones as symbols of the people’s hopes, stories and prayers. This idea is inspired by the stones that pilgrims take along on the famous Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James), an ancient pilgrimage route from France and Spain through the Pyrenees Mountains.

We invite and encourage church groups, school groups, seniors living in retirement communities, families, and individuals to write these very personal, indeed sacred messages. The People’s Caravan will deliver these stones to our legislators in dramatic fashion to the foot of the Capitol.

Camino pilgrims’ passports get stamped at each stop.

To continue with this pilgrimage metaphor, caravaners will be given a blank passport that will be stamped and/or signed by representatives from the places where the caravan stops. This memento of the experience will be a special reminder of the importance of this shared journey.

Message Drop off LOCATIONS: [TBD]

Go With Friends, Deepen Bonds

Make your vehicles blaze with American flags, banners and signs. Think “parade float” and be creative. Bring water, snacks, and stories. Unplug from your busy lives (and your devices) and enjoy one another’s company on this incredible road trip. Know that you will see people waving encouragement along the way.

PRACTICAL SMALL GROUP ACTION

Convene a house party to create the posters and decorations for the caravan. Decorate your vehicle on Sunday, February 18th.

How to Show Your Support

If you live near the route, take note of the approximate time the caravan will pass through your area, and gather with some friends to wave to the caravan. You might even make your own sign, because your presence on the side of the road is an effective grassroots political statement to all the drivers going by.

Convene a house party, a men’s or woman’s group at your church, or an event to create your stone messages. Bring your collection of messages to the nearest drop off location listed here [TBD].

In the meantime, write letters and make phone calls to our legislators. Tweet about this event, email allied healthcare nonprofits.

Write a letter to the editor.

History Similar Actions

Black Sash Movement in South Africa

The Black Sash was a non-violent white women’s resistance organization that was founded on 19 May 1955 in South Africa by Jean Sinclair, Ruth Foley, Elizabeth McLaren, Tertia Pybus, Jean Bosazza, and Helen Newton-Thompson.^[1] The founding members gathered for tea in Johannesburg before they decided to organize a movement against the Senate Act. They succeeded to hold a vigil of 2 000 women who marched from Joubert Park to the city hall.^[2]

The name of the organization was inspired by women wearing black sashes over one shoulder as they held silent vigils against discriminatory laws.^[3]

The Black Sash initially campaigned against the removal of Coloured (mixed-race) voters from the voters’ roll in the Cape Province by the National Partygovernment. As the apartheid system began to reach into every aspect of South African life, Black Sash members demonstrated against the Pass Lawsand the introduction of other apartheid legislation.

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