Penn State's Black Caucus is including a freedom drive to Harrisburg during its second annual "Freedom: Now More than Ever" rally this weekend.

"The freedom drive is a funeral procession. It will be a memorial to lives that were lost due to terror," Black Caucus President David Davis said.

Participants will drive under the speed limit and use microphones and loudspeakers to speak to people while they travel to Harrisburg today.

Davis is not concerned with the possibility of police interference during the drive.

"I think that the message is far more important than the possibility of that happening," he said. "We feel that what we are going to be talking about will warrant attention."

Once the procession arrives in Harrisburg, Black Caucus will hold a press conference and speak on the steps of the Capitol Rotunda. They also hope to present petitions to the governor.

Davis did not know how many students would be participating in the drive, but he said those who have registered are bringing large groups. Students from commonwealth campuses, in addition to Shippensburg University, Lock Haven University and Edinboro University are expected to participate.

Chris Martinez (senior-political science), a student involved in rally planning, characterized it as an educational event responding to political and social issues.

At 1 p.m. tomorrow, the rally participants will march down College Avenue to the grassy area between Pollock Road and College Avenue in line with Allen Street. The march will end at the steps of Old Main where guests will speak.

Confirmed speakers include: Amiri Baraka, a poet and activist; Nikki Giovanni, a black American poet; Judy Shepard, an activist and the mother of Matthew Shepard, a gay man who was murdered in 1998; Mauri Saalakhan, an activist; and Na'im Akbar, a psychologist and motivational speaker.

Each speaker will contribute to the event's overall theme of confronting terrorism in America, organizers said.

"Generally it's going to highlight a lot of the things that are overlooked or allowed to happen in America in terms of our own domestic terrorism," Martinez said.

Davis said the rally should encourage people to think when they hear the word terror.

The rally is dedicated to Rio-Jarell Tatum, a former Penn State student who was shot and killed in Baltimore in late May. Tatum was a member of Black Caucus and was attending Penn State on an athletic scholarship.