84 more arrested on ‘Moral Monday’ as protesters decry ‘outsiders’ label
Source: News Observer
84 more arrested on Moral Monday as protesters decry outsiders label
Published: June 17, 2013 Updated 2 hours ago
By Anne Blythe, Annalise Frank and Julian Spector ablythe@newsobserver.com
RALEIGH Researchers from UNC-Chapel Hill fanned out among the throngs of demonstrators outside the North Carolina statehouse Monday in search of demographic information.
Since Gov. Pat McCrory described the demonstrators as outsiders to Republicans gathered earlier this month at a Charlotte convention, participants of the Moral Monday protests have worked to let the GOP leaders know that their mass protests are homegrown.
Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/06/17/2971229/more-moral-monday-protesters-arrested.html
http://m.guardiannews.com/commentisfree/2013/jun/10/north-carolina-gop-moral-mondays.
Our message to North Carolina's GOP: 'Moral Mondays' are here to stay
Since extreme conservatives took over the Republican party in the state capitol, nonviolent direct action became our only
option
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'Moral Monday' protesters crowd the gallery in the legislative general assembly building in Raleigh, North Carolina.
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.
http://prospect.org/article/man-behind-moral-mondays
The Man Behind Moral Mondays
LYNN STUART PARRAMORE JUNE 17, 2013
A conversation with Reverend Doctor William Barber, who is leading the progressive charge against right-wing policies in North Carolina.
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hobbit709
(41,694 posts)I remember back in late 60's when the warden at a prison that had a riot blamed it on outside agitators, instead of the fact that the prisoners had finally had enough of the conditions there.
PatSeg
(47,549 posts)I remember when Soviet communists were responsible for a lot of the demonstrations in the 60's. Couldn't have possibly been government policies or the war in Vietnam.
SwissTony
(2,560 posts)You didn't meet the guy who was paying people $20 to demonstrate against the war in Vietnam. Funnily enough, neither did I. He was always just around the next corner. Even when I got to the next corner...and the next...
But he was somewhere, so that meant we were all rent-a-mob. None of us actually opposed the war. We were just in it for the money.
This excuse was lame then. It hasn't improved with age.
PatSeg
(47,549 posts)The powers-that-be just couldn't accept that all that riff-raff were middle-class sons and daughters of their friends and supporters. There had to be infiltrators! Actually, sometimes there were infiltrators - FBI agents who not only were spying on the leftist youth, but provoked them to commit acts of violence to make the demonstrators look like the evil haters the government said they were.
Ah, the memories!
Divernan
(15,480 posts)Lucky for state legislators that so many state capitols are difficult to get to and not major population centers. Not only do demonstrators have to take time off from work (unless retired or unemployed), but also pay for transportation. For example, Harrisburg in Pennsylvania; Albany in New York,Sacramento, CA, or Tallahassee in Florida are far away from major population centers of those states. Other capitols are tucked into far corners or state borders: Carson City, Nevada; Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Another consideration is that legislatures are not in session many Mondays - but all the better to have more localized demonstrations at the district offices of these politicians when they're not in session. I think you'd get a LOT more local coverage that way too. It should top the list of interesting news for local media, and that's what puts the fear of dog into these state legislators - they are 95% about keeping their constituents happy enough to vote them back into office.
I note that the North Carolina protestors' have a 14 point People's Agenda. So important to always accompany protests with specific demands. In the case of 14 points, it's easy for legislators to say it's too difficult to make so many changes. I suggest prioritizing, i.e, hitting them over the heads (figuratively, of course) with one at a time.
MynameisBlarney
(2,979 posts)Just because the teabaggin GOP'ers have to truck in outsiders to pad their astroturf demonstrations, doesn't mean we do.
mountain grammy
(26,639 posts)carolinayellowdog
(3,247 posts)the capital is a lot more progressive than the hinterlands
TRoN33
(769 posts)Find out that Pat McCrory are the truest outsider than proud citizens of North Carolina. Pat wasn't born in that state. Pat didn't grew up in that state. North Carolina has elected the first Republican governor since 1988 and realized that in fact, they got duped big time. Pat doesn't have any interest in serve the citizens of that state, instead he is all for money, money, and money from corporations and big donors. He earned five times more than he does from Governor salary. Got showered with million of dollars worth of free stock options with corporations.
Pat McCrory's face is the only reason why he got elected, not for his own brain.
PatrynXX
(5,668 posts)84 arrested in NC and 85 arrested in Turkey. oh great job guys. bonk.
ctsnowman
(1,903 posts)limpyhobbler
(8,244 posts)hue
(4,949 posts)John2
(2,730 posts)McCrory's and the GOP's problems in North Carolina. North Carolina is not as red as people think,especially in the urban areas. I predicted when he was elected, that he would have problems trying to implement the same rightwing policies, from other states, that are much more conservative than North Carolina. He is going to end up with a revolt, because the state has virtually been run by Democrats for decades. North Carolina is mostly a centrist state, that was trending more Left, with the growth of the population. The African American population is increasing and so is the Hispanic and Asian population. There are also a lot of colleges in North Carolina, with the intermingling of progressives and intellectuals. There is also the younger generation. The urban areas are outgrowing the rural areas in population. This use to be a state, that was king for Tobacco and Textile manufacturing. Major League sports, like football and basketball, are now a mainstay in North Carolina. One city that has really grown in population is Charlotte, as well as other cities like the Raleigh/Durham area. it is not the same Jessie Helms' state it use to be.
To give you a dose of some of the problems McCrory will have in enforcing the Teabag agenda,will run into road blocks in municipal governments. One example would be City Council members getting arrested. They are among the people getting arrested and going against the Governor. Among the arrestees were a Durham city council member, Durham school board member, Carbarro Mayor, Chapel Hill Council woman, and three Cabarro aldermans. A Guilford county commissioner and Councilman from Rocky Mount. The Durham members actions were endorsed by the Mayor of Durham. There has been religious leaders of churches and educators coming out against the Governor. One of the charges have also been the GOP rigged the elections through gerrymandering to get control of the Legislature.
Another complaint is McCrory fooled a lot of people, running as a centrist. He was not a rightwing teabagger when he was the mayor of Charlotte. He did get minorities to vote for him also, based on being the mayor of Charlotte. He got funds to improve Charlotte's Transit system. NcCrory is bought and paid for by the Kochs and Pope, to push their rightwing agendas. He will end up pissing people off just like Florida's Governor, and be a one term Governor. That is if North Carolinians don't find a legal way to recall him before his term ends. Once these Policies set in, and more people feel the effects, the rebellion will get bigger.
marions ghost
(19,841 posts)G_j
(40,367 posts)by next week, total arrests will probably top 500!
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)protesters.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)They tried the "outsiders" bullshit here in Wisconsin too. The only outsiders were the busses full of teabaggers that AFP brought in.