Wisconsin: A Moral Monday in Eau Claire
Grass roots organizing - anethema to the Third Way
http://bloggingblue.com/2014/02/a-moral-monday-in-eau-claire/
After several core group meetings in the weeks prior to the February 8th rally, organizers in Eau Claire held their first Moral Monday public meeting on Monday, February 24th, in the basement of the Unitarian Universalist Church at 421 S Farwell St. Over 40 people attended the meeting led by Unitarian Universalist Reverend Julie Lepp and progressive community activist Eleanor Wolf. The predetermined theme of the meeting was poverty and how we can begin to work together to find solutions.
Attendees included local elected officials, heads of non-profits, faith community leaders, and low income people who’ve been adversely effected in recent years by budget cuts to various social safety net programs. After breaking into small group discussions attendees voted on what the priorities of the emerging coalition should be, and settled on three issues: raising the minimum wage, eliminating chronic homelessness, and Medicaid/Badgercare expansion in Wisconsin. The group also decided to send individual emails to both Rev. William Barber and Rev. Curtis Gatewood of the HKonJ coalition asking them to come to Eau Claire to speak. The excitement in the room was palpable.
I spoke with two single mothers after the meeting and they both told me that they had to struggle to keep from crying throughout the evening. They said they’d never heard so many people talking so openly about poverty as a moral issue, and they were surprised that so many people were willing to come together to try to do something about it.
The next meeting date was set for Monday, March 24th, and everyone in the room was strongly encouraged to bring at least one new person with them. The single mothers I spoke with assured me that they’d be coming back in March, and that they’d be bringing others with them. As they say out in North Carolina, ” Forward together, not one step back! “
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