North Carolinians Flood the State Legislature for a Massive Moral Monday Sit-In and Plan-In to Launch New Phase of Voter Mobilization with Moral March to the Polls

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 24, 2014

Contact: Sarah Bufkin, NC NAACP - smbufkin@gmail.com or 404.285.3413

Cynthia Gordy, Advancement Project - cgordy@advancementproject.org or 202.341.0555

 

Fifteen Arrested for Expressing Moral Dissent over Extremist Agenda Pushed by NC Legislative Leadership after Moral Monday Rally Draws Thousands

 

RALEIGH, NC - People from all across the state reclaimed the North Carolina General Assembly at Moral Monday June 23 for a series of sit-ins and plan-ins to prepare for the Forward Together Moral Movement's next phase - a sustained campaign of mobilizing and registering voters ahead of the November elections called the Moral March to the Polls.

Upwards of 3,500 gathered outside the People's House to protest this state legislative leadership's extreme agenda before breaking off into smaller groups to enter the People's House and work on get-out-the-vote strategies alongside the Moral Freedom Summer organizers. Inside the legislature, 15 moral witnesses were arrested for expressing their opposition to the deluge of devastating policies unleashed last year - bringing the total number of arrests since the first Moral Monday last April to over 1,000. 

 

Yesterday's action marked 60 weeks of Moral Mondays organizing and protest, and the crowd celebrated the Movement's victories in the streets, in the courts and in public opinion.

"It normally takes a Movement years to change the public consciousness, but we already seeing the tremendous effect that this diverse, multi-issue, grassroots coalition is having on our state," said Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, president of the North Carolina NAACP. "We don't navigate by the polls, but the polls show that only 18 percent of North Carolina approves of our General Assembly and the work they are doing right now. On the issues, the majority of North Carolinians agree with the Movement, not with the extremist policies of this legislature. We are transitioning into a new Moral March to the Polls this summer as we do all we can to make sure that North Carolinians can and do raise their voices at the ballot box."

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