EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. -- A group of ministers Thursday called for a day of prayer for Haitian refugees as hunger-fasting dancer Katherine Dunham and activist Dick Gregory protested U.S. policy toward Haiti.
The clergymen called for the day of prayer during a news conference at St. Mary's Hospital in East St. Louis, where Dunham was in serious condition.
Dunham, who has consumed only water and fruit juices since Feb. 1, has been hospitalized since Sunday.
Gregory and two others were arrested Thursday for the second straight day for chaining themselves to the doors of a federal building.
Gregory, Cleo Willis of St. Louis and Sylvester Lee of East St. Louis were released on bond Wednesday after promising a federal judge they would not hold another protest within 100 feet of the federal courthouse, where they had chained themselves to entrance doors.
Instead, the men chained themselves Thursday to the Social Security building a block away where federal marshals arrested them again.
Gregory, a longtime human rights activist and comedian, and Dunham are continuing a fast to protest the return of Haitian boat people held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Haiti.
Dunham, 82, has been a frequent visitor to Haiti for decades and has lived there at times. Exiled Haitian leaders, including ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, have pleaded with her to resume eating.
However, Dunham has insisted she will not break her fast until the Haitian refugees are allowed to remain in the United States or can return home with assurances of safety. She also has said she will continue fasting until Aristide is reinstated as president of the Caribbean island nation.
