The American experience defies what was laid out in The Declaration of Independence. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, —
Essentially, no one
Moral Monday’ protests continue in North Carolina
For video of the “MHP” Saturday coverage of the protests, start here.
In this web extra, you’ll see more of host Melissa Harris-Perry’s interview with Rev. William Barber about the “Moral Monday” protests and promises he says were broken by North Carolina’s Grand Old Party Legislators.
As noted in Melissa Harris-Perry‘s extensive coverage on Saturday, the “Moral Monday” protests continued on Monday.
Update: At least 89 protesters, including many clergy, were arrested at the June 10 “Moral Monday” protests at the North Carolina General Assembly. All were released by morning, per a Tuesday report from the New York Times.
In a new column published on Monday June 10th in The Guardian, Reverend William Barber—perhaps the most visible leader of the burgeoning movement—wrote:
Our message to North Carolina’s GOP: ‘Moral Mondays’ are here to stay
We have been pleased by the number of people showing up at the statehouse in Raleigh, North Carolina every Monday, sacrificing their freedom and their bodies to protest the regressive agenda of the extreme right. But we are not surprised.
We have worked since 2005, when 20,000 civil rights warriors across the state elected me to lead the NC NAACP, the largest NAACP conference in the American south. Since 2007, we have mobilized thousands of whites, blacks and Latinos; gay and straight, to come to the statehouse to show their support for a progressive 14-point “people’s agenda” that is rooted in anti-racism, anti-poverty, and anti-war. We organize every day. We do this with tens of thousands of volunteers and only a handful of staff.
When far-right extremists took over the Grand Old Party and turned it into a joyless, humorless, mean-spirited vehicle to line the pockets of the super-rich, we already had experience bringing people to Jones Street, where the state capitol is located, and advocating for the poor and vulnerable. It is not surprising, then, that a couple of months ago, when we called for moral witnesses based on Gandhi and Dr King’s brilliant examples of nonviolent direct action, we had 17 ministers and other leaders answer the call and participate in the first inaugural “Moral Monday”.
We were pleased, but not shocked, when 29 additional North Carolinians came the second Monday; 49 the third, 59 the fourth, and 151 last Monday, 3 June. Each week, the number of supporters multiplies; from about 300 the first week to more than 4,000 on 3 June.
The appeal for each Moral Monday has been the same: urging legislators to govern for the good of the whole, rather than for the wealthy. We didn’t come to this decision lightly. In fact, we made several attempts to meet with the far-right legislative leadership. Governor Pat McCrory invited us to his house for a 20-minute chat. We said we wanted to work with him to be sure he governed for the good of the whole, as the US constitution requires him to do. But it was clear he was marching to the beat of a different drummer.
Since then, we have tried repeatedly to meet with legislative leaders. No luck. Once they refused to meet and refused to stop their destructive campaign, we had no choice but to commit our constitutional responsibility to instruct our legislators by engaging in nonviolent civil disobedience.
Week after week, North Carolinians from all walks of life have come to Raleigh to exercise their constitutional right to “instruct” their representatives. Instead, they were arrested for trespassing in the “people’s house”. To date, over 300 people have been arrested and thousands have lifted their voices in opposition to the avalanche of extreme public policies. The measures include:
- Cutting the payroll tax credit for over 900,000 poor and working people
- Slashing state unemployment benefits and rejecting federally-funded Emergency Unemployment Compensation to 170,000 laid-off workers
- Rejecting federal funds to expand Medicaid to cover 500,000 North Carolinians without health insurance
In sum, the NC general assembly is making it harder for those who are sick to get healthcare; for children to get an education; for the incarcerated to be redeemed; for people to vote. At the same time, they make it easier for the rich to get richer; for the sick to get sicker; for private schools to profit while cutting funds for public schools; to implement the flawed death penalty; and to get guns.
But as Paul said, in the book of 2 Corinthians 4:8:
“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair.”
We have the cause of justice on our side and we will continue to move forward together and not one step back. In the words of Penda Hair, co-director at Advancement Project:
“We are prepared to fight these ugly attacks on the poor, on public education, and on the voting rights of minorities, aged, and students with every organizing and legal strategy at our disposal.”
We are building a movement, not just a moment. As our coalition and supporters grow, we will continue to shine a spotlight on injustice and go back home to our respective communities and organize against the regressive agenda of North Carolina’s legislative leadership.
Leave A Comment