Ed Fallon

Save America March seeks to build unity, one step at a time

DES MOINES, IOWA — On Monday, September 29, talk show host and former state rep Ed Fallon begins a five-week trek through Iowa. Fallon sees the Save America March as an opportunity to dialogue with Iowans of all political stripes about preserving America’s democracy through peaceful, nonviolent means.

Fallon plans to walk about 10-15 miles a day. He’ll carry only the walking stick he received from Trappist monks in 2006, the satchel gifted to him by Mahatma Gandhi’s granddaughter Sumitra Kulkarni in 1995, and a few personal items. He will ask people along the route to put him up in their home each night.

The first week of the March includes stops in Des Moines, Pleasant Hill, Clive, Waukee, and Van Meter. Tentative plans for the second week include stops in St. Charles, Winterset, and Greenfield.

“Our democracy is being supplanted by authoritarian rule,” said Fallon. “We’ll never address the existential threats of climate change and nuclear weapons, or any other pressing issue for that matter, without a functional democracy. Violence isn’t the answer. The approach of leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Cesar Chavez, and Dorothy Day is what will save us.”

Fallon invites people to march with him for a mile or a day. He’ll ask overnight hosts to organize a meeting, a meal, and music, and to include family, friends, and neighbors with differing viewpoints. “It’s a big ask,” admitted Fallon. “In my experience, when people who don’t see eye-to-eye politically get together over conversation, food, and music, they inevitably find common ground.”

As an example of this principle, Fallon references Crossing the Divide, a short documentary that followed the Climate Justice Unity March in 2017. The initial antagonism by local residents toward marchers was replaced by an understanding of the need to address common concerns.

“Authoritarianism has been spreading for a while,” said Fallon. “This year, it’s gone from bad to worse. The civility that used to define public engagement is being supplanted by name-calling, lying, and flouting the Constitution.”

Fallon’s history of marching as a vehicle for social change dates back to 1986, when he organized the Iowa stretch of the coast-to-coast Great Peace March. Since then, Fallon has organized five long marches and walks.

— He founded Great March for Climate Action (now Climate March) and in 2014 joined 50 people to march 3,100 miles from Los Angeles to Washington, DC. His memoir — Marcher, Walker, Pilgrim — chronicles that journey.

— In March-April 2015, Fallon completed the Dakota Access Pipeline Walk — a solo hike of 400 miles from southeast Iowa to northwest Iowa along the route of the then-proposed Dakota Access pipeline.

— In November 2015, Fallon and Steve Martin walked 200 miles from Normandy Beach to Paris, France, in support of the United Nations Climate Summit.

— In April 2017, thirty people participated in the Climate Justice Unity March, walking 85 miles from eastern Iowa to Des Moines to call for climate action, and to highlight the shared concerns of Native and non-Native Iowans.

— In September 2018, thirty participants in the First Nation – Farmer Climate Unity March walked nearly 100 miles from Des Moines to Fort Dodge to oppose expanding the Dakota Access pipeline.

In addition to directing two non-profits — Climate March and Bold Iowa — Fallon hosts the Fallon Forum, which has aired continuously for sixteen years. His platform includes a weekly radio show on eight stations in seven states, a podcast, and blog.

Fallon also manages Birds & Bees Urban Farm with his wife, Kathy Byrnes. The non-profit’s mission is to help people turn their yard into dinner. Fallon is also an accomplished musician, performing traditional Irish music with the Des Moines Irish Session and having recently recorded the Chopin Nocturnes.

Save America March is sponsored by the Fallon Forum and Climate March. People interested in supporting the March can donate to either organization. People who would like to host Fallon or march with him can reach him at (515) 238-6404 or ed@fallonforum.com.

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