Kids "Weed Out Hate" In The Spirit Of MLK

SPRINGFIELD, IL  -- The cities of Des Moines, IA and Springfield, IL have proclaimed Saturday, August 28, 2010 "Weed Out Hate Day."

Forty-seven years after Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his "I have a dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial inWashington, D.C., calling for equality regardless of race, creed and religion, the two city governments, in separate declarations, acknowledged that "while much of what Dr. King envisioned has come to fruition…there are still persistent weed seeds of hate in his 'Promised Land' that impede our success as human beings and as a society."

Springfield and Des Moines, with respective ties to both Lincoln and the Lawn and Garden industry, are prompting the children in their communities, and throughout the nation, to go out to their yards and pull out "one symbolic weed," roots and all, to symbolize our spiritual yearning for eradicating hatred and nurturing a landscape of friendship and freedom for all. This effort represents our need to nourish society and enrich education by way of gardening and celebrating the earth.  

The Springfield, Illinois commemoration will take place at 2:00 pm on August 16, 2010 at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site – 413 S. Eight Street, Springfield, IL 62701.

The public awareness campaign is the brainchild of honorary gardener, author, and businessman Marc Daniels, eldest grandson of the inventor of the Ross Root Feeder®. Mr. Daniels will be officiating at the Springfield ceremony and will relate his vision for the future: the collaboration of green industry, governmental and educational resources to ensure universal public school access to gardening pedagogy.

In the words of both proclamations "Through this campaign, it is hoped that all children can begin to  touch upon the kind of inner ecology of the spirit that Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King each experienced as they nurtured the nation."

About Marc Daniels

Marc Daniels is an author, businessman and eldest grandson of the inventor of the Ross Root Feeder®. He has devoted the past five years of his life to researching and writing about the spiritual, cultural, and ecological roots of gardening. His new book, Heaven's Garden, is being released in Germany by Allegria Verlag, a unit of the Ullstein Group of Publishers.  Discussions are underway for a US publisher. Mr. Daniels is also a guest blogger for Neighborhood BugWatch(SM)www.neighborhoodbugwatch.com, a social networking lawn and garden community.