Tibetan protesters begin trek to Chicago from Madison

Kevin Murphy Correspondent for The Capital Times — 7/25/2008 3:35 pm Building on the completion of the recent visit by the Dalai Lama to Madison, a dozen marchers stepped off from the Capitol Friday toward the Chinese consulate in Chicago and their ultimate goal of Tibetan independence. "We knew that a lot of Tibetans would be here and we wanted to capitalize on their presence here and we knew we could go a two-week walk to Chicago and end there at the beginning of the Beijing Olympics on August 8," said Larry Gerstein, a professor at Ball State University who is president of the International Tibet Independence Movement. Tibetan independence marchers have covered 3,400 miles on 360 days during the past 13 years bringing the message of autonomy for Tibet to North Americans while also giving hope to Tibetans, Gerstein said.... [read full story]