Moral Mondays North Carolina -- 150 more arrests yesterday

[marions ghost]

More than 150 arrested at NC legislature during Monday protests
By John Frank
Posted: Monday, Jun. 03, 2013

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/06/03/4083626/more-than-100-arrested-at-moral.html#storylink=cpy

RALEIGH "Jennifer Ferrell stopped so her husband could take her picture. Then she waved goodbye to her 3-year-old twins and marched into the Legislative Building to get handcuffed.

“I’m excited. I’m not nervous,” the 34-year-old Raleigh resident said as she walked in a line of demonstrators. “I’m passionate. I’m not crazy.”

For weeks now, Ferrell heard about protesters getting arrested at the statehouse to demonstrate against the Republican majority’s legislative agenda. And like many Monday, she felt compelled to add her voice to the chants and her wrists to the handcuffs. “I knew it was time to stop watching and do it myself,” she said.

Authorities arrested 151 people in the rotunda between the legislative chambers during the latest “Moral Monday” protest – the largest mass arrest since the N.C. NAACP began organizing the weekly civil disobedience events in late April.

The number is nearly the equivalent to the arrests at the four prior protests combined and brings the total above 300 this session.

The crowd of spectators also exploded, with hundreds rallying on the mall outside the legislative building, listening to speakers condemn Republican legislative leaders. “That’s extreme,” shouted the Rev. William Barber, the N.C. NAACP president, into a loud speaker as he listed legislation Republicans have approved this year. “That’s immoral, and we must stand up and wake up right here, right now.”

Police estimated the crowd at 1,000 – about five times more than the last protest – but organizers counted 1,600"
...............(more at link)....................

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Why North Carolina's 'Moral Mondays' Matter for Democracy and the Planet

Philip Radford
Executive Director, Greenpeace
Posted: 06/03/2013 10:10 am

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-radford/why-north-carolinas-moral_b_3378108.html

"Every Monday for the past month, North Carolina citizens from across the spectrum have gathered at the State House in Raleigh to protest the pro-corporate, anti-rights agenda of the legislature's newly elected Republicans. The top priority of these Republicans is to pass every law imaginable to wreck the environment and strip away the ability of people to defend their communities -- which is exactly why Reverend William Barber and the hundreds of dedicated people of North Carolina will be there again this Monday, singing, chanting, and raising their voices in every way they can to make sure the corporate right doesn't win in North Carolina.

Greenpeace activists will be there alongside Reverend Barber and groups across issues, because this fight matters in a big way -- not only for North Carolina but for everyone in the country who cares about voting rights and environmental protection.

Why?

Because the big money groups fighting the citizens of North Carolina are the same big money groups fighting across the country to disempower the majority who believe in the rights of communities to be safe and self-determined. If the corporate right sees it can win in North Carolina, it will take the same tactics to every vulnerable state in the Union in a full court press against people and the environment. We can't let that happen"
...................... (more at link) ....................


Shout out to Moral Monday protestors

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Good....hope it grows...to every county in every state...

Looks like we HAVE to repeat history.

[mmonk]

2. Having less parking spaces due to Homeland filming didn't slow it down

or keep it from growing. I was glad to see that. As more people realize their vote is diluted through gerrymandering thus making a ballot box only change impossible, the movement will continue to swell.

[mmonk]

3. Video

[marions ghost]

4. Great Video!

Thanks for posting, mmonk.

---------------------
From the video
Rev Barber:

"This is the politics of extremism...some of the folks in there are high on Koch..."
"This is a takeover...the People are awake now..."
"We're gonna be here as long as there is strength in our bodies and hope in our spirit..."
"We're gonna walk forward together until justice is established and the "common good"
is a reality..."
" ...until crooked politics gets straightened out..."

"I intend to stay UNTIL......(no further words)" says Rev Barber. And that is what it's going to take.

[mmonk]

5. Always glad to help.

Until

[marions ghost]

6. Until

[mmonk]

7. .

[sikofit3]

11. Hope

Reading this gave me hope for the first time ever.....

[marions ghost]

13. And that is exactly why

it is worth doing.

"You know, when people say--what does protesting/civil disobedience do? Nobody pays attention to
that"...

I know they are wrong. It touches hearts. If all you can do is be present, Standing Against has an impact.

[marions ghost]

8. Republican condescension

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/04/moral-monday-protest_n_3383149.html

"Republicans inside the building appeared largely unmoved, despite the raucous protests.

"There is no buzz. There's none," state Sen. Tom Goolsby (R) told WRAL over the echoes of chants from demonstrators when asked if Republicans were paying attention.

Instead, Goolsby maintained that they were "keeping our promises to the voters."

State Rep. John Blust (R) used a more regional analogy to explain his attempt to brush the demonstrations aside.

“I think of it like Carolina playing at Duke,” he told the Raleigh News and Observer, invoking the historic Tobacco Road college basketball rivalry. “I’m not going to let the Cameron Crazies throw me off my game.”
(Cameron Crazies = Duke fans).

[marions ghost]

9. It's growing...

http://charlotte.cbslocal.com/2013/06/03/140-people-arrested-in-naacp-protest-against-nc-republicans/

--excerpt:

"Republican leaders have mostly dismissed the protests, saying lawmakers are doing exactly what they campaigned on and that the protesters don’t represent a majority of North Carolina residents.

Unlike in past weeks, police couldn’t clear out all those being arrested before the Senate’s Monday floor session began, which led to some grumbling from lawmakers who had to work around the rotunda filled with police and demonstrators. Other lawmakers who came out for the protests complained about being forced to stay behind police checkpoints with members of the media.

“What am I obstructing? I’m elected to be here,” said Rep. Garland Pierce, D-Scotland.

Pierce said he believes diverse crowds of people are coming out in greater numbers because the issues cut across racial and political lines. “I think that people are beginning to read and see that this present administration is toxic,” he said."

[Vietnameravet]

10. More from the article..

As the protesters were led to a bus waiting to take them to jail, several hundred demonstrators stood on the sidewalks nearby to cheer them.

Margaret and Howard Arbuckle traveled from Greensboro. They were upset about the cuts to public education, the support of private school vouchers and what they described as an erosion of voting rights.

“There needs to be a developing sense of outrage,” said Howard Arbuckle, 70, who is retired from the insurance business.

“What they’re doing is hurtful to the future of North Carolina,” added Margaret Arbuckle, an advocate for children.

Doug Swaim, a Charlotte resident, came to Raleigh with a busload of fellow congregants from the Unitarian church in Mecklenburg County.

He worries that Republicans are working quickly to “lock in radically conservative policies.”

“They’re not stupid, they understand the demographics of North Carolina, they know they only have a short time to do this,” Swaim said. “I’m sure they believe in what they’re doing, but I like to call this the last gasp of the angry white man.”

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/06/03/4083626/more-than-100-arrested-at-moral.html#storylink=cpy

[marions ghost]

12. Thank you

"hurtful to the future of North Carolina" is NC style politeness. I would say "effing devastating to the Future of North Carolina..."

Here's another good video just up on Youtube:

So many people worked so hard for Early Voting and for Same day Registration--only to see it knocked back.

Now why would our Legislators want to limit voting rights? Would there ever be a good reason to do that?

[marions ghost]

14. Gov McCrory's statement at noon: "Not Impressed"

Gov. Pat McCrory not impressed with NAACP's 'moral' protests

"On Tuesday, McCrory said people refusing to leave when ordered consumes a lot of resources.

"We welcome feedback, we welcome lawful demonstrations," he said. "However, we don't welcome unlawful demonstrations, and that should not be accepted."

McCrory added that he is not interested in speaking with the group.

"No," he said. "I am pleased that it's been non-violent, though, and that's the second most important parameter. That it be lawful and non-violent. I'm very pleased with the way the authorities have handled it, in a non-violent manner."

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/politics&id=9126902

[mmonk]

17. Which means I will be at the next one.

I like being challenged by a crooked system.

[marions ghost]

18. Saluting you

[marions ghost]

19. What would "impress" him, a recall petition?

100K people on his doorstep, like in Wisconsin?

What a cowardly jerk, not even agreeing to talk to the groups. He'd come off looking too bad.

[marions ghost]

15. Another good video-- from Indy Week

&feature=player_embedded

http://www.indyweek.com/triangulator/archives/2013/06/03/151-arrested-at-moral-monday-protest

"Allen Wellons, a former state senator (D-Johnston), was among those that chose to be arrested. "I just couldn't sit back and watch this happen anymore," said Wellons as he walked into the Legislative Building hand in hand with a line of others who planned to participate in civil disobedience. "They [Republican leaders] are taking chances with the future of our children, the elderly, poor people and just the average citizen."

(snip)

The majority of protesters were white, but the age range was more diverse than in previous weeks. A group of 10 teachers from Hillside High School in Durham, all in their 20s, were among the crowd. Jessie Odom, 25, said she had been educated about proposed changes in public education by her fellow teachers in previous weeks and decided to join the growing movement.

"When I talk to my friends who teach at other schools, I don't get the sense that they know about everything that's happening," said Odom. "But that's why we're out here."

"150 people getting arrested and thousands protesting, as opposed to business as usual at the legislature, throws a spotlight on what's happening," said Katie Barnhill, another Hillside teacher. "This might bring someone to think about what's happening in a way they hadn't before."

"They are starting to wake up a sleeping giant," said Yevonne Brannon, a longtime Wake County organizer. "It's called the middle class."

[marions ghost]

16. "We Shall Overcome"

&feature=youtube_gdata

At 1:40 in the video, the crowd of people being arrested sing "We Shall Overcome" in the legislative building...powerful.

[socialist_n_TN]

20. Obviously, this is getting bigger. It reminds me of how.......

the Wisconsin protests started. First a few, then a few more, then a lot, then a half a million or so in Madison. With solidarity demos world wide.

Maybe this will go on the same trajectory.

[marions ghost]

21. One can hope

--There are significant differences between the two states that would play into it, I'm sure. Wisconsin has unions while NC has a long anti-union history for one thing. Wisconsin is bluer historically, but in recent voting history parallels NC's roughly 50-50 split--both are battleground states and both are ALEC targeted states. Both have a large agriculture based segment of the economy at odds with the voting in urban areas. NC probably has more poverty--some estimates put it higher than the national rate of 1 in 6 people, but Wisconsin has been going down in terms of income also. Wisconsin's population approaches 6 million while NC is almost 10 million.

I'm not knowledgeable enough to do any kind of in depth analysis tho. Maybe if this Moral Monday protest goes on, Rachel Maddow or Chris Hayes will do a comparison.

I hope you are right that this will grow because NC has been stolen from the people. The big money hijackers want to run it like a corporation with most of the population kept down, working for the company store. They want to balance the budget on the backs of the working poor and what used to be middle class. It's criminal really. More and more people in NC are waking up to the real agenda.

We shall see.

[Scuba]

22. Thank you Moral Monday protesters!!!