Moral Mondays are the liberal/progressive response to the recent dire excesses of the Republican controlled North Carolina legislature. There have been multiple Moral Monday demonstrations in Raleigh, the state capitol, and now the the legislature is no longer in session, the demonstrations have gone on the road.
An estimated eight to ten thousand folks showed up in Asheville yesterday, toting signs that addressed many of the concerns raised by recent bills passed -- bills that would put new restrictions on abortion clinics . . .
There's so much to be alarmed about: a budget that denies our teachers raises (while the governor's cabinet all got raises,) a move to take control of Asheville's water system away from the local government, laws that make voting more difficult, a green light to the potentially devastating practice known as fracking . . . . the list goes on and on.
Here's a link that includes excerpts from the powerful speech by the Reverend William Barber, head of the North Carolina's NAACP (the historic National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
The crowd was a wonderful, diverse bunch of folks. There was singing, much of which hearkened back to the civil rights movement. ("I didn't think we;d have to do this again, said another white-haired woman at my side.')
So much happened so quickly in our state government that many of us are still reeling in disbelief. "They did WHAT?"But there's a change coming . . . so many different groups gathering with various causes but united by a common interest -- to vote the right-wingers out.
Here's a LINK to a web album with lots more pictures and lots more signs.