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Eighteen days into their 20 city tour, the Caravan for Peace and Justice is on its way to Selma, Alabama today. The group of travelers began their journey from their home country of Mexico to raise awareness of the effects of armed violence and the drug war on the border and inside Mexico and here in the US. The tour began on August 12th in San Diego, passing through Los Angeles – listeners may recall our special report from the LA stop, featuring an interview with the acclaimed award winning Mexican poet and novelist Javier Sicilia who is considered the symbolic leader of this burgeoning movement. Sicilia lost his 24 year old son to organized violence, and like many other family members who have lost loved ones, has embarked on a journey to end the violence at its source.

A majority of arms used by drug cartels and other groups on the border are purchased legally in the United States, whose gun laws are extremely lax. Earlier in the week, at a stop in Houston, Texas, members of the Caravan for Peace and Justice purchased an AK 47 from a gun shop and proceeded to ceremoniously dismantle, destroy, and bury it.

Traveling along with the caravan are Americans like Roberto Lovato, a founding member of the formidable online organizing group, Presente.org. Presente has launched a campaign calling on the public to text the word PEACE to the number 225568 and sign a petition asking President Obama to “stop the flow of assault weapons into our communities.”

GUEST: Roberto Lovato, founding member of Presente.org.

Visit www.caravanforpeace.org for more information.

Watch a video of the members of the Caravan dismantling an AK47 in Houston, Texas: