In the seven weeks to date of weekly “Moral Monday” protests and civil disobedience at the North Carolina state legislature, thousands of people have participated and 485 have been arrested, including 84 on June 17. This week’s arrestees were charged with failure to disperse, criminal trespass, and violating General Assembly rules that prohibit singing, loud talking, and holding signs. It took five department of corrections buses to haul away the protestors. UE Local 150 members were present at this Monday’s event as they’ve been since the movement started, and UE Director of Organization Bob Kingsley spoke at the gathering.
The protests have been organized by the state NAACP and its charismatic leader, Rev. William Barber, a strong supporter of UE Local 150 and worker rights. Barber says the protests are directed against “the mean-spirited quadruple attack” on working people and the poor by the extremist Republican majority in control of the legislature and the governor’s office. So far this year these right-wingers have cut unemployment benefits, cut Medicaid, raised taxes on the poor so they could give a tax cut to 23 of the state’s wealthiest families. They’re now advancing bills to limit the right to vote, cut public education, and prohibit voluntary payroll dues collection for public sector union members.
At the May 13 action, the arrestees included Larsene Taylor, member of the UE General Executive Board, healthcare technician at Cherry State Hospital, Local 150 vice president and of the union’s council of department of health and human services workers; state worker and Local 150 President Angaza Laughinghouse, UE activist Charlie Daniels, and retired UE International Rep. Saladin Muhammad. More than 200 people participated in that action, and 49 were arrested. The protests grow week by week and are receiving more and more attention, including national media coverage in MSNBC, NPR and other outlets.
“UE salutes the courage and vision of the Rev. Dr. Barber and of the hundreds who have submitted themselves to arrest,” Kingsley told the June 17 gathering, “and the thousands who have come out like you have to stand up and be counted. We are proud that members of my union, UE, have been part of the Moral Mondays civil disobedience crew since the beginning.”
Larsene Taylor has expressed pride in her participation in the Moral Mondays movement and her arrest for the cause of justice. “It was awesome. We were singing while we were arrested and on the bus on the way to jail.” Taylor said she had been considering retirement, but the growing resistance movement in her state has changed her mind. “We’re in a war in North Carolina.”
LEARN MORE
See a report on the June 17 Moral Mondays action, including video, on Daily Kos at this link.
The American Prospect interviewed the man behind Moral Mondays, Rev. William Barber. Read it here.