Embargoed Until 10:30 AM
February 11, 2012
For More Information: Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, President, 919-394-8137
Mrs. Amina J. Turner, Executive Director, 919-682-4700
Why HKonJ6 in 2012
By Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II
President of NC NAACP and Convener of Historic Thousands on Jones Street People's Assembly Coalition
2012 Themes
Forward Together, Not One Step Back: We will not be divided or defeated.
Forward Together, Not One Step Back: WE DEMAND Liberty and Justice for All.
Forward Together, Not One Step Back: WE DEMAND ECONOMIC JUSTICE
Forward Together, Not One Step Back: We the People Shall Not be Moved.
Woe to those who make unjust laws,
To those who issue oppressive decrees,
To deprive the poor of their rights
And withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,
Making widows their prey
And robbing the fatherless.
-Isaiah 10: 1-2
...God will teach us how to live.
We'll know how to live God's way.
True teaching will issue from Zion,
God's revelation from Jerusalem.
He'll establish justice in the rabble of nations
and settle disputes in faraway places.
They'll trade in their swords for shovels,
their spears for rakes and hoes.
Nations will quit fighting each other,
quit learning how to kill one another.
Each man will sit under his own shade tree,
each woman in safety will tend her own garden.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies says so,
and he means what he says.
-Micah 4: 3-4
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and the recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.
-Luke 4:18
And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
Isiah 58:10-12
Our ancestors enshrined these ancient Judeo-Christian values into the North Carolina Constitution, which requires the General Assembly to adhere to Article 1, Section 2, stipulating that "all political power is vested in and derived from the people...and is instituted solely for the good of the whole." Though we respect all faiths, we demand that our elected leaders do this and no less: work for the good of the whole.
This is why the Historic Thousands on Jones Street People's Assembly on today, February 11, 2012 is more important than ever. If you believe we should defend our public schools, defend our voting rights, and defend our poorest citizens against the power of greedy corporations and far-right ideologues, march with us, stand with us and organize with us on February 11 and beyond. What we have seen in the past year makes it clear that our children and our future are at stake.
The new far-right, Tea Party-backed ultra-conservative leadership of the General Assembly has attacked public education; assailed our voting rights; ignored the cries of the poor and unemployed; sought to divide us by race, income, region and sexual orientation; and tried to sell off our environment to the highest bidder; all in the service of private greed and far-right ideology. This attack on the most vulnerable among us comes at a turning point in our history, when everything we hold dear is on the line.
What did the servants of wealth and power do on Jones Street in 2011?
They savaged our schools. Throughout 2011, we saw the ultra-conservative leadership in the General Assembly attack our public schools and our hard-working teachers, chopping half a billion dollars out of our classrooms. They stole into the General Assembly after midnight and butchered the budget, leaving North Carolina 49th in education-investing less in our children than Mississippi or South Carolina. They hacked 15.5% from the University of North Carolina system, forcing tuition hikes that have a devastating impact on minority, poor, and first generation college students. But we know there is a better way.
What did the servants of wealth and power do on Jones Street in 2011?
They assaulted the poor and the unemployed, targeting even the hard-pressed middle class who are struggling to stay above the poverty line. Poverty here has grown 22 percent during this recession; the median household income in North Carolina has dropped 12.3% since 2007, while the state lost 300,000 jobs. Roughly ten percent of our workforce is officially unemployed, though the real rate is much higher. Only six states have higher unemployment; in the South, only Mississippi suffers more joblessness. Black unemployment is double that of the whole population. The gap between rich and poor is wider and deeper than during the Great Depression; one percent of Americans own forty percent of the wealth.
This is not the time for the General Assembly to cut hundreds of millions from Medicaid, mental health, and critical services to poor communities. But that is exactly what they have done. But we know there is a better way.
Over 1.5 million North Carolinians live in poverty. Children suffer most; 48 of our 100 counties have more than 20 percent of families going without food at times; almost half the children in Vance, Scotland and Robeson counties sometimes have no food at home.
The number of children in poverty (2010) in North Carolina is shameful:
- Latino Children-130,743
- White Children-214,487
- African American Children-207,421
- American Indian Children-11,239
These children are not white, black, brown or red children; they are God's children and our children, and we have to do right by them.
What did the servants of wealth and power do on Jones Street in 2011?
They attacked democracy itself. In 2011 we saw redistricting used as an attempt to segregate the black vote. The same forces that use purported compliance with the Voting Rights Act as an excuse to obtain partisan advantage sued to overturn the Voting Rights Act altogether; they also pushed Voter Photo ID bills that would disfranchise poor, young, and minority voters. Their race-based maps pack 48% of black voters into just three U.S. House Districts, 52% into just 27 of the 120 State House Districts, and 47% into just ten State Senate Districts. Many of these districts were already electing African Americans; by removing black voters from majority white districts, they marginalize minority influence. But we know there is a better way.
What did the servants of wealth and power do on Jones Street in 2011?
They attempted to codify discrimination into the very heart and framework of our Constitution. They pushed a constitutional amendment onto the ballot that attacks our LGBT sisters and brothers. This would be the first amendment in our history that narrows rather than expands protections to all persons. But this attack on LGBT citizens was also a ploy to use prejudice to herd poor and minority voters into voting against their own interests. But we know there is a better way.
What did the servants of wealth and power do on Jones Street in 2011?
They attacked North Carolina's natural beauty and the health of our land and water. Even now, powerful forces in the General Assembly seek to push through offshore oil drilling without adequate safeguards and so-called "fracking"-the hydro-fracturing process of extracting natural gas from the earth; this process has poisoned drinking water in communities across America. They have not even discussed clean, renewable energy alternatives. But we know there is a better way.
What did the servants of wealth and power do on Jones Street in 2011?
They undercut justice in our courts. Our General Assembly tried to kill the Racial Justice Act, which gives the courts a chance to ensure that racism does not drive anyone's death sentence. They also slashed funding to Indigent Defense Services, often the only hope for young black men and women to escape an often unequal justice system. But we know there is a better way.
Not only is this happening in North Carolina but across this nation... But we know there is a better way.
This is what the servants of wealth and power did on Jones Street in 2011.
The nightmare of regressive public policy takes us in the wrong direction. We are here today because we know there is a better way. We have a better agenda. We believe in a progressive policy vision of going forward. The better way says that our children can be educated and we can build the future...
This is why we must march on Jones Street on February 11. And this is why we must stay eternally vigilant. We must have mass mobilization on February 11! We must have mass mobilization every day afterwards! And we must have mass civic engagement and voter participation!
In this moment, we must redouble our efforts and declare in both words and deeds: Forward Together, Not One Step Back: We will not be divided or defeated.
Forward Together, Not One Step Back: WE DEMAND Liberty and Justice for All.
Forward Together, Not One Step Back: WE DEMAND ECONOMIC JUSTICE
Forward Together, Not One Step Back: We the People Shall Not be Moved.
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Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, conducting voter mobilization and monitoring equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.
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