NC NAACP to Hold News Conference to Respond to This Week's Arrests

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2 May 2013

For More Information:            Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, President, 919-394-8137

                                                Mrs. Amina J. Turner, Executive Director, 919-682-4700

For Media Assistance:             Rob Stephens, Field Secretary, 336-577-9335

North Carolina NAACP Holds News Conference to Discuss Acts of Civil Disobedience and Announce Next Steps

DURHAM - The NC NAACP will host a news conference on Friday morning to discuss the acts of civil disobedience taken on Monday at the NC General Assembly. Seventeen individuals chose to bear witness at the NC General Assembly to a radical and regressive agenda taken up by the right wing majority by nonviolent direct action. Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, President of the NC NAACP, will join others who put their bodies on the line to discuss the basis for the action and announce next steps.

           The news conference will take place at Martin Street Baptist Church, 1001 E. Martin Street, Raleigh, NC on Friday, May 3, 2013 at 9:30 am.

           "We did not commit civil disobedience lightly," said Rev. Barber, one of the last to be released from jail on Tuesday morning, at 4:15 am. "We have gone through all of the steps and tenants of nonviolence and civil disobedience. We tried to reason, to meet and presented all kinds of undisputable evidence that their policies were going to hurt the most vulnerable North Carolinians. When they refuse to listen and refuse to stop their campaign against the wellbeing and rights of the poor, we have no choice but to shine light on their immoral activities through the moral tradition and practice of peaceful direct action."

           Many members of the 17 who were arrested on Monday will be in attendance. The diverse group of activists range in age from 18-74, are Black, White and Latino, men and women, clergy, students and community activists. News conference participants will announce a major rally on Tuesday, May 7 in Raleigh against the extreme attacks on voting rights and human rights by the NC General Assembly. They will also discuss future waves of nonviolent civil disobedience.

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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.