Sister Alison's NOLA to Angola Bike Ride

With your support, we raised over $55,000 collectively for the Cornerstone Bus Program so that families across Louisiana can visit their incarcerated loved ones next year!  Thank you for helping us not only reach, but exceed our goal.  This wouldn't have been possible without you! Thanks for joining the Nola to Angola community!  100% of the funds go to rent buses and hire drivers to pick up loved ones and drive them to various prisons throughout the year.  The 170-mile journey by bicycle from New Orleans to Angola was a spiritually, physically, and emotionally intense pilgrimage.  It was a privilege to join 70 others (30% who were directly impacted being formerly incarcerated or having family incarcerated) this journey and have the support of a great team that provided meals for us as we camped in the evenings.  I was asked to offer a Blessing of the Bikes and opening send-off prayer and a closing ritual.  The opening send off prayer is below if you'd like to reflect on the journey along the Mississippi River with us. 

With deep gratitude and appreciation for your support, 

Alison  

NOLA to Angola Bike Blessing
 A Litany for Liberation Along the Mississippi River Corridor

Leader- The Mississippi River serves as a metaphor in many ways for our journey towards liberation and wholeness.  As we bike along the river’s winding bends, may we reflect on the ways the rivers of our lives flow both our participation in systems of oppression and toward liberation and justice for ourselves, others and the systems in which we operate. 

All- Refrain: May the waters of liberation guide us on our journey. 

For the Earth on which we stand, the waters that surround us, the air we breathe, and all of creation…

For the Chitimacha, Coushatta, Jena Band of the Choctaw, the Unica-Biloxi, Addai Caddo, Biloxi-Chitimacha Confederation of Muskogee, Chocktaw-Apache, Community of Ebarb, Clifton Chocktaw, Four Winds Tribe of the Louisiana Cherokee Confederacy, the Grand Caillou/Dulac Band, the Isle de Jean Charles Band, Pointe-Au-Chien, and the United Houma Nation tribes of Louisiana who lived and continue to live in right relationship with and cared for this land before colonization…

For the times we were silent in the face of discrimination, oppression, violence, and genocide, …

For the people of African nations and tribes forcibly removed from their homelands and violently enslaved on the grounds we travel…

For those currently incarcerated, kept in cages, stripped away of their rights and human dignity, and taken away from their families…

For the families of those currently incarcerated living and longing for their loved ones’ return home…

For formerly incarcerated people struggling with the many barriers of reentry around housing, employment, relationships, and regaining fundamental human rights…

For those who are victims and survivors of harm…

For a paradigm shift around accountability and the creation of systems for more restorative frameworks…

For an end to all walls and borders that diminish humanity and divide us…

For the fisherman, riverboat crews, and all the workers who labor on and along the river…

For the people of Cancer Alley who live along the Mississippi River Corridor fighting for their rights to clean air, water, and soil…

For forgiveness for our use of plastic, vinyl, chemicals, and other petroleum-based products whose production pollutes our communities…

For the 1 in 6 people who lack clean drinking water…

For the food that heals us and the earth, sun, and rain that nurture seeds…

For water protectors and those praying and caring for creation…

For all of us who labor for the liberation of ourselves and others…

For all the riders safety as they bike this journey…

For the solidarity that is nurtured and for support that is shared along the way…

For a deepening of our commitment to justice and the feeling of interconnectedness in all things as we ride…

God of many names who birthed creation over 13.8 billion years ago, continue to provide healing waters for our journeys and guide us towards liberation for all. 

Amen. Ashe. May it be so. 

 I will now pass around a container of holy water from the Mississippi River that has been blessed if you would like to bless your or a friend’s bike with their consent.