The actor says his “Dirty Hands Caravan,” which includes several bio-diesel buses, will travel from Indio, California to New Orleans in an attempt to bring increased attention to issues like homelessness and poverty:

“I see this as a reckoning. My generation and those that came before have to recognize the numbing of incentive that we’ve passed on to the change hungry, imaginative, smarter than us youth of today. The “Dirty Hands Caravan” seeks to empower young people to stand up for what they believe in, with its longevity based on inspired individuality and pride.”

The Hollywood Reporter said Penn will take off today and is expected to arrive in New Orleans on May 4, just in time for the city’s annual jazz festival.

Penn was on stage at the the Coachelle Music Festival over the weekend, where he spoke to the audience and let his views be known about poverty, the environment, politics and the war in Iraq:

“For the 3,000 people we lost on 9/11, we’ve lost 4,000 in this war, and that’s just American soldiers … and why did we let it happen? It’s simple: We let it happen.”