Groups to Unite at State Capitol for Moral Monday 10 Year Anniversary
Repairers of the Breach
MEDIA ADVISORY FOR: April 24, 2023
Contact: Steph Derstine, steph.derstine@berlinrosen.com, 512-820-7903
Erica Noll, erica.noll@berlinrosen.com, 424-237-6790
*RALLY MONDAY 5:30 PM ET*
Bishop Barber, Repairers of the Breach, Dozens of Local, National Advocacy Groups to Unite at State Capitol for Moral Monday 10 Year Anniversary, Recommitment Rally
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A Decade After 17 People Sparked One of Largest-Ever Direct Action Movements Targeting State Legislatures, Moral Fusion Movement to Recommit to Restoring and Realizing the Promises of Our Democracy
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Link to livestream here
RALEIGH, N.C. – Bishop William Barber II and Repairers of the Breach will join with dozens of local and national advocacy groups to lead a recommitment rally at the state capitol on Monday marking the 10th anniversary of the Moral Monday movement and to continue the push for a moral revival to reclaim democracy in the face of extremist attacks.
Ten years ago, 17 North Carolinians walked into the General Assembly to bear witness to the body’s immoral attacks on the most vulnerable residents of the state. Before long, thousands had joined in and helped forge a new moral vision for North Carolina. The Moral Monday movement went on to be one of the largest direct action campaigns at a state legislature in U.S. history, with over 1,000 people arrested while demanding North Carolina’s leaders stop committing murder by public policy.
The diverse, fusion movement brought together North Carolinians of all races, in all parts of the state. It helped pave the way for Medicaid expansion, drove down extremist Gov. Pat McCrory’s poll numbers and prevented attacks on voting rights, including preserving early voting and same-day registration and blocking voter ID requirements, among many other victories. Still, today extremist leaders in the state capitol are hard at work scapegoating poor people, LGBTQ people, immigrants, women and people of color in order to concentrate wealth and power in fewer and fewer hands.
“We have fought and we have won because we came together in a fusion movement across lines of difference,” said Bishop Barber. “Monday is the 10-year anniversary of our moral movement, but we won’t just commemorate. Instead, we will rededicate ourselves to the fight for a Third Reconstruction to make America the democracy it has never truly been.”
Monday’s rally comes on the heels of a massive Moral Monday march, led by Bishop Barber, gun safety organizations and clergy, into the Tennessee State Capitol last week to demand lifesaving gun safety legislation and an end to extremists in state legislatures trampling over democracy. The protesters forced extremists in the House to abandon a planned vote on a bill to arm teachers. Whether in Tennessee, North Carolina, West Virginia, or Mississippi, Moral Mondays continue to build power and shift the moral narrative of this country.
RALLY DETAILS
WHAT: Moral Monday Ten- Year Anniversary & Recommitment Rally
WHO: Bishop William J. Barber II, President of Repairers of the Breach and Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign
Repairers of the Breach
North Carolina Poor People’s Campaign
Forward Justice Action Network
Union of Southern Service Workers (USSW)
North Carolina Council of Churches
Beloved Community Center
Freedom Center for Social Justice
NC Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission
NC Black Alliance
Sunrise Movement Durham
Center for Death Penalty Litigation
NC Justice Center
NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
Justice Served NC
NC League of Women Voters
Pro-Choice NC
Duke Graduate Student Union
Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry of North Carolina
Democracy Out Loud
Common Cause NC
NC Second Chance Alliance
WHEN: Monday, April 24, 5:30pm ET
WHERE: North Carolina State Capitol
1 E. Morgan Street, Raleigh, NC 27601 US
*For questions or to coordinate interviews, please email steph.derstine@berlinrosen.com*
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