Soul Force Riders in Ellendale ND and Aberdeen

On April 23rd and 24th Soul force riders who are traveling th country by bus attempting to communicate with Fundamentalist leaders and students at colleges that openly discriminate against GLBT students were in Ellendale North Dakota and later in Aberdeen. Below are the accounts of what happened as told by David Fisher from Aberdeen a long time member and activist with Soul Force and reported by The Robinsdale Radical Blog.

ELLENDALE, N.D. - As singing rang out across the Trinity Bible College
campus Monday, three women began their walk, bypassing the fence meant to
keep them off private property.

Carrying prayer shawls in their arms, the women marched steadily toward the
campus buildings, as about 25 others - many of them representing the
Soulforce Equality Ride, a group rallying against religion-based
discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people at
Christian colleges across the nation - continued to sing: "Go now in peace.
Go now in peace. May the love of God surround you."

http://www.aberdeen news.com/ apps/pbcs. dll/article? AID=/20070424/ FRONTPAGE/ 704240315

more here too:
http://rr57701. blogspot. com/2007/ 04/soulforce- in-south- dakota-tonight. html

and here's a fascinating eyewitness account from the person who did a lot to
get them here:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: David Fischer
Date: Apr 24, 2007 7:37 PM
Subject: Riders to Ellendale & Aberdeen

Sunday & Monday were amazing days for me; now exhausted yet empowered to
continue to work for justice and fairness. I spent many hours with the
group on both days and we had a fantastic evening at the Red Rooster Coffee
Shop. The Equality Riders weren't even scheduled to come to Aberdeen.
Ellendale with Trinity Bible College was the only stop planned in this area.

Working for nearly 5 weeks, I spent countless hours writing, talking and
walking the streets to get them here. Getting them here was the easy part,
they were thrilled to be invited anywhere an audience of listeners was
available. Finding a venue for their presentation and group discussion was
nearly impossible until I spoke with Dan and his sister Kileen who owns the
Rooster. I was ready to throw in the towel but their web site says
something such as "building community" and they lived up to that.

I have tons of photos to go through and I'll send some your way as soon as I
can but this is one shot of the bus stopped on Main Street with a few of the
Riders heading to the Rooster. Imagine this big thoroughly conspicuous bus
parked on one of the busiest streets in town for all to see and ponder. The
next day the following story appeared in the paper.
David