Rural residents raise hell at Moral Monday protest

<a href="http://www.journalnow.com/gallery/news/article_d0043a1c-24bc-11e3-b21d-0019bb30f31a.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Scores of Moral Monday protesters</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> came to tiny Yadkinville, N.C., last night to fight the repressive anti-worker policies approved by Gov. Pat McCrory and his legislative allies this year. The rally was the 19th such event held since late April. Nearly 1,000 people were arrested at weekly protests held in the state capital earlier this year.</span><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHMII6jxxdfgUd43AuSVoyjmUr-YXW4JE8Moo4hO7T09Mk9MQiR0TboVvTUjTcbljS7EFdaFnxRweW_065IPZ_qHOXPqqkTVCiBK_LPffdgTJZOltLZy5ofriJHxx3cbYoKq3vRFV12svq/s1600/9.24moralmonday2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHMII6jxxdfgUd43AuSVoyjmUr-YXW4JE8Moo4hO7T09Mk9MQiR0TboVvTUjTcbljS7EFdaFnxRweW_065IPZ_qHOXPqqkTVCiBK_LPffdgTJZOltLZy5ofriJHxx3cbYoKq3vRFV12svq/s320/9.24moralmonday2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Laid-off worker Philip Diehl addresses crowd at rally.</td></tr></tbody></table>Jobs and education were again at the top of the agenda for demonstrators. Several said the event gave those living in rural North Carolina the chance to have their voices heard in Raleigh. They oppose decisions to cut unemployment benefits and public education and the failure to expand Medicaid coverage for 600,000 residents.<br /><br />Philip Diehl, who was laid off his job with Freightliner Trucks, said workers are hurting while McCrory doles out fat salaries to his staff. Protesters are just trying to make a difference, he told the <a href="http://www.journalnow.com/gallery/news/article_d0043a1c-24bc-11e3-b21d-0019bb30f31a.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter" rel="nofollow">Winston-Salem Journal</a>: <br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">You are fed up with the way things are going. You are trying to peacefully change things.</blockquote><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Christopher Petree, president of the Yakin County Association of Educators, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisPetree" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">tweeted that the governor and the Legislature are motivating</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> the public to action:<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shout out to the @NCLeg and @PatMcCroryNC for bringing out the activist in me. You all know how to rally the masses!</span></blockquote></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The event closed with a candlelight vigil to remember all state residents who have been damaged by the extreme policies approved by lawmakers this year.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Week after week, North Carolina residents are pushing back on an agenda crafted by </span><a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/02/heres-billionaire-trying-to-destroy.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">state budget director Art Pope</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, a multimillionaire who helped underwrite the campaigns of Gov. McCrory and his cronies in the Legislature. It is largely modeled on the pro-corporate, anti-worker platform of the </span><a href="http://www.alecexposed.org/" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">American Legislative Exchange Council</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> And more demonstrations are expected. In addition to the ongoing Moral Monday events, North Carolina teachers are </span><a href="http://triangle.news14.com/content/news/699770/nc-teachers-consider-walkout-to-protest-poor-working-conditions" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">currently mulling whether to hold a statewide walkout Nov. 4</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> to protest policy changes and poor working conditions in the classroom.<br /><br />Stay tuned.<br /><br /></span>

ALEC art pope Gov. McCrory Moral Monday North Carolina Rural residents raise hell at Moral Monday protest

Scores of Moral Monday protesters came to tiny Yadkinville, N.C., last night to fight the repressive anti-worker policies approved by Gov. ...

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Moral Monday protests gain momentum in North Carolina

<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAsWNwFDljhnwZTYe7PucGGLImGYLBdqQ4uJyIevjAS0YgfMAmxX4nsq50u40gaB3BYf5XixdGCqLUW6fr83Emqt9PgSvS4slVjsUyJ2EOq8abQpwIRpZSLfBxBQQMToy2XjIIT7Ezrtz4/s1600/9-16moralmonday1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="They marched around the governor's mansion in Raleigh." border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAsWNwFDljhnwZTYe7PucGGLImGYLBdqQ4uJyIevjAS0YgfMAmxX4nsq50u40gaB3BYf5XixdGCqLUW6fr83Emqt9PgSvS4slVjsUyJ2EOq8abQpwIRpZSLfBxBQQMToy2XjIIT7Ezrtz4/s400/9-16moralmonday1.jpg" title="Students held signs protesting the policies of Gov. McCrory and the Legislature." width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Students took the lead on the march around the governor's mansion.</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Two Moral Monday events drew more than 500 people who protested North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory and his legislative allies for curbing voting rights, slashing education spending and refusing federal dollars to expand Medicaid. The rallies held yesterday marked the 18th week since late April that North Carolinians gathered to protest the state</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> government’s actions. About 925 people were arrested during the demonstrations for nonviolent civil disobedience. <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At a </span><a href="http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/09/16/3202013/college-naacp-groups-bring-new.html" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">youth-led demonstration in Raleigh</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, some 250 people marched around the governor’s mansion to demand a roll back on </span><a href="http://www.teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/07/teamsters-participate-in-largest-moral-monday-protest.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the voter suppression and education cuts enacted</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> in July. Some also carried three children’s coffins to honor the memory of four little African-American girls killed in a Birmingham, Ala. church bombing 50 years ago yesterday during the height of the civil rights movement in the South.<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span>College students from around the area came to the protest to show they are concerned about the state’s future. They held signs reading “We will fight for our future,” “Reinvest in public education,” and “Take your hands off our voting rights.” Dylan Su-Chun Mott, a member of the University of North Carolina’s Student Power group, said </span><a href="http://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2013/09/moral-monday-0917#print" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">students need to stand up and be heard</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">:</span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[The UNC-system Board of Governors] is trying to tell us that the only thing we are in school for is to get jobs. … More importantly, we are learning to be fully participatory citizens in this, our great democracy.<o:p></o:p></span></blockquote></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span>Meanwhile, </span><a href="http://www.news-record.com/news/local_news/article_8a8ab91c-1f3e-11e3-bf27-001a4bcf6878.html" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">about 300 people gathered in the small town of Wentworth</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> in north-central North Carolina. to protest education and Medicaid cuts. The event was held in the district of Senate leader Phil Berger.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Rev. Nelson Johnson of Greensboro’s Beloved Community Center said that Berger and other elected officials have forgotten the main purpose of government:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><blockquote class="tr_bq"> Mr. Berger, government and our democracy is supposed to work for the people and not against the people.</blockquote> Week after week, North Carolina residents are pushing back on an agenda crafted by <a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/02/heres-billionaire-trying-to-destroy.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">state budget director Art Pope</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, a multimillionaire who helped underwrite the campaigns of Gov. McCrory and his cronies in the Legislature. It is largely modeled on the pro-corporate, anti-worker platform of the </span><a href="http://www.alecexposed.org/" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">American Legislative Exchange Council</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">McCrory says the changes will help everyone in the state, </span><a href="http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/2013/09/12/your-handy-guide-to-the-seven-most-common-myths-from-the-gop/print/" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the numbers just don’t bear this out</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>In fact, they show the state spent $100 million less on public schools, cut taxes only on out-of-state corporations and the wealth and made benefit cuts that hurt low-income citizens, not help them.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The </span><a href="https://twitter.com/ncnaacp" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">next rally is scheduled for Yadkinville</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> on Sept. 23.</span></div></span></div></span>

ALEC art pope education cuts Gov. McCrory Medicaid Moral Monday North Carolina voter suppression Moral Monday protests gain momentum in North Carolina

 Students took the lead on the march around the governor's mansion. Two Moral Monday events drew more than 500 people who protested Nor...

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Two NC Moral Monday protests draw hundreds

<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hundreds of Moral Monday demonstrators turned out in two North Carolina counties yesterday to demand better wages and an end to attacks on workers, voter suppression and education cuts. <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHtGpp7MBz8Gjg5NrpXAlZ0Lx4m1PDoXQT0b2Mwkj-GYTPphiW2RW5tGh4Oco7E0H9F1xhyphenhyphenF44T4sIc0e3NQjH9Ls57U866FxOXcZJMvTPaccTh7HyOveDJexFVHQRClD2ERTsBGMoSBag/s1600/9.10moralmonday2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="She attended the rally in Southern Pines." border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHtGpp7MBz8Gjg5NrpXAlZ0Lx4m1PDoXQT0b2Mwkj-GYTPphiW2RW5tGh4Oco7E0H9F1xhyphenhyphenF44T4sIc0e3NQjH9Ls57U866FxOXcZJMvTPaccTh7HyOveDJexFVHQRClD2ERTsBGMoSBag/s320/9.10moralmonday2.jpg" title="A woman holds a sign with a broom attached that says "sweep away the trash in Raleigh." " width="274" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Protesters want to clean up the state capital.</td></tr></tbody></table><a href="http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2013/09/10/1281831?sac=fo.local" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some 300 people turned out at a protest in Southern Pines</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> in the central part of the state, while </span><a href="http://www.jdnews.com/news/local/local-moral-monday-inspired-demonstrations-begin-1.200047" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">about 30 gathered in Jacksonville</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, in eastern North Carolina. In both places, people said they want their voices heard in Raleigh. They said they felt locked out of the legislative process, which resulted in cuts to unemployment benefits and Medicaid as well as tax increases for the middle class.<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Chris and Katherine Stevenson, who attended the Southern Pines event, were both arrested during protests at the Statehouse earlier this year. </span><a href="http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=9241749" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mrs. Stevenson said it is important to let lawmakers know</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> that people across the state want change:</span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What is happening now is not going to solve the problems.<o:p></o:p></span></blockquote></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Greg Humphries, who came to the Jacksonville rally, agreed. Jobs and equality are essential, he said:</span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There ought to be equality in all aspects of government especially in pay. I believe that all people ought to get a good salary.<o:p></o:p></span></blockquote></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The demonstrations were just the latest in the effort to bring the Moral Monday movement statewide. The protests began in April in the state capital and continued through July, </span><a href="http://www.teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/07/teamsters-participate-in-largest-moral-monday-protest.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">resulting in about 925 arrests</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. The state chapter of the NAACP, which served as main organizer, then took the rallies across the state to both rural and urban locations. An event held in Asheville last month </span><a href="http://www.teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/08/chicago-joins-NC-in-moral-monday-protest.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">drew about 10,000</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> people. <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gov. McCrory and the Legislature are fulfilling the corporate policies pushed by </span><a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/02/heres-billionaire-trying-to-destroy.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">greedy billionaire Art Pope</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, an </span><a href="http://www.alecexposed.org/" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ALEC</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">disciple and </span><a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2011/10/bombshell-kochs-sold-oil-equipment-to.html"><s><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Benedict Arnold</span></s></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Koch brothers buddy who got himself appointed state budget director after financing a number of radical politicians’ campaigns.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p>The Legislature's attacks on middle-class North Carolinians are spreading through the state. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/06/north-carolina-medicaid-expansion_n_3882976.html" rel="nofollow">A small coastal hospital announced it was closing down</a> in the coming months because Gov. McCrory decided not to expand Medicaid. The expansion would have been funded by the federal government.</o:p></span></div>

ALEC art pope Gov. McCrory Moral Monday North Carolina Two NC Moral Monday protests draw hundreds

Hundreds of Moral Monday demonstrators turned out in two North Carolina counties yesterday to demand better wages and an end to attacks on w...

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