The following post is very long, but if you can't see the exhibit in person, do take time to read and look at the contents here. In person, the images and text are a moving tribute to the "Moral Monday" demonstrations in Raleigh.
Forward Together: Images of Moral Mondays is a collection of photographs, paintings and narratives on display November 14-December 5 at Jones Library at Brevard College.
Images & text by David Otto, David C. Taylor and Harry Phillips of Chapel Hill. Copyright 2014. Used with permission.
Forward Together!
Images of Moral Monday
Now a central feature of North Carolina’s political landscape, Moral Mondays began in April 2013 as a focused response to a Republican-led legislature and governor that enacted or debated laws that would limit the rights and opportunities of everyday people in our state. Moral Mondays were and are being organized by the North Carolina Chapter of the NAACP and many justice and advocacy groups. These protests are recognized nationally as a successful state-level movement aimed at defending civil rights and citizen protections. Monday gatherings at the state capitol in Raleigh began with less than 100 protestors in April and early May and then swelled to thousands in June and July. Since the end of the legislative session in late July, Moral Monday protests continue across the state in communities large and small.
Some Monday protests addressed a broad theme—unemployment, voting rights, health care, women’s rights, education, the environment, and others—where experts delivered moving speeches designed to inform and motivate. Issues that gained much attention during protests included: restrictions to unemployment benefits that are affecting more than 150,000 workers; a prohibition on accepting Medicaid dollars that, according to some experts, will result in the deaths of more than 2,000 individuals; severe cuts to public schools; elimination of the Racial Justice Act; near elimination of abortion rights; and a Voter ID Law that limits early voting, eliminates early registration for 16- and 17-year olds, allows interrogation of voters at the polls, and requires a government-issued photo ID.
Historically, another, broader, perspective on Moral Mondays is provided by the inspirational figure at the very center of the movement, the Reverend Doctor William Barber, III, President of the North Carolina Chapter of the NAACP. While he acknowledges the importance of 2014 elections and the need to alter current laws, Barber views Moral Mondays as part of what he calls a “Third Reconstruction.” To explain, our first reconstruction period occurred after the Civil War, a period marked by fusion politics and increased economic and civic opportunities for former slaves. The Jim Crow era, however, forcefully erased most of these opportunities for Black Americans, and instead installed a terrorist presence to limit social mobility, poll taxes, and “literacy tests” to restrict voting. Our second Reconstruction is the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, a time when the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act were passed but also a time when important leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated as part of another racist backlash. Our Third Reconstruction, explains Rev. Barber, is essential because of the venomous backlash against our first Black president and ensuing limits on voting and other rights aimed at African Americans and other minorities. To succeed, this new period also will need to be marked by fusion politics, what we might today refer to as “trans-racial governing coalitions.” In Rev. Barber’s words, the current reconstruction must be “rooted in the idea of the deep moral issues about faith, our constitution, anti-racism, anti-poverty, that can break open the solid South and put holes in it so that we expand the electorate, we expand the discourse, we destroy the myth that when you hurt entitlements you only hurt certain folk.”
This exhibit represents the efforts of three participants in the Moral Monday Movement—Carrboro photographer Dave Otto, Chapel Hill painter David Taylor, and Chapel Hill activist Harry Phillips. Dave amassed more than 800 pictures at nine Moral Monday events and was arrested on June 17. He shared his digital images with David Taylor, whose paintings are based on his photographs. Harry Phillips, who was arrested at the second rally, contributed another critical ingredient—the narratives which tell the story behind the photographs and paintings.
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WE’RE HERE AND WE’RE UNITED!
Rev. Dr. William Barber II, center, leads a group of protestors from the Bicentennial Mall across Jones St. and into the North Carolina State Legislative Building during an early Moral Monday. President of the North Carolina Chapter of the NAACP and a nationally recognized figure in civil rights struggles, Rev. Barber is the moral and spiritual center of the Moral Monday movement. His moving speeches are characterized by regular references to Scripture, clear understanding of the effects the current legislature is having on poor people, and an inclusive approach to restoring rights and protections.
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THIS IS THE NEW SOUTH!
Protestors hoisted signs revealing their passion and outrage at recent laws enacted by the legislature. The key value of inclusivity is revealed in this sign, the value that the way forward cuts across lines of race, sexual preference, economic position, and religious affiliation. The demand for justice now was the bedrock of Moral Monday events. Some of the many issues that affect the essentials of life and opportunity in our state are noted in the lower half of this sign. Aleta Payne of Raleigh observed this about the final Moral Monday of the summer in Raleigh: “All the folks who came out—to sing, to pray, to face arrest—did so not just for themselves, but for others who deserved better than the state’s majority leadership provided. They were there for everyone’s children, everyone’s elderly neighbors or kin, for schools and teachers, for North Carolina’s natural resources, for a state that had been a progressive model but has rapidly become a late-night joke.”
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ROSANELL EATON: OUR PROUD LEGACY OF CIVIL RIGHTS!
The crowd roared at the comments of 92-year-old Rosanell Eaton, center. In the words of her daughter, Armenta: “What brought her out was the possibility of requiring voter ID. She was required when she was 21 years old to repeat the Preamble to the Constitution in order to register. They would yank you around back in those days. . . . She’s seen the good, bad, and the ugly. Now she’s seeing the ugly again. She fought for civil rights, she was a civil rights worker, and now she sees that it’s going backward.”
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OUR RAINBOW CLERGY!
Clergy from different faiths responded in great numbers to Rev. Barber’s call to lead the June 10 Moral Monday rally. Seven rabbis from Triangle-area temples drafted a letter supporting the movement, part of which reads: “Many of us have previously attempted to reach out to [the North Carolina General] Assembly leaders for dialogue, and we have been ignored. We therefore endorse the use of nonviolent civil disobedience to draw attention to the reckless and heartless policies currently passing into law in Raleigh. . . . We recognize the need for solidarity at this time in North Carolina. The Jewish vision of social justice is broadly shared by all people of faith who are mobilizing this Monday, and now is the time to speak out.”
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THE RAGING GRANNIES: SINGING OUR WAY FORWARD!
The North Carolina Raging Grannies, Triangle Region, are regular performers at Moral Monday protests. Original lyrics sung to familiar tunes reflect the Grannies’ insightful positions on issues. The Grannies carry forward the ancient tradition of strong, wise women elders directing the community to rail against public wrong-doing. Through their singing, Grannies clarified an issue at hand and offered sage advice on the way forward.
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NOT ONE STEP BACK!
The speakers’ platform on Halifax Mall, always presided over by an encouraging Rev. Barber, reflected NAACP organizers’ commitment to a diverse, inclusive mix of voices. Speakers included: teachers, nurses, voting rights experts, clergy, labor organizers, academics, women’s rights advocates, students, environmentalists, civil rights workers, prison reformers, and fair housing leaders, among others. Of this diverse community, Rebecca Cary of Durham writes, “I saw migrant workers and union organizers out in the rain or the blazing summer sun vocally defending my right to choose, and marriage equality activists doing the same in defense of labor rights, and NAACP organizers protesting discrimination against LGBT people, and white feminists denouncing the repeal of the Racial Justice Act.”
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I’M NOT AN “OUTSIDER!”
This sign responds in part to Gov. McCrory’s claim that Moral Monday protestors are “outsiders . . . coming in . . . to try to do to us what they did to Scott Walker in Wisconsin.” However, according to police records, 98% of protestors arrested are from North Carolina. Another official, State Senator Thom Goolsby from New Hanover County, derisively referred to Moral Mondays as “Moron Mondays,” to the diverse cross-section of folks attending as “mostly white, angry, aged former hippies,” and to a Moral Monday event as “a circus . . . complete with clowns, a carnival barker and a sideshow.” Another message on the sign points to the realities that North Carolina teacher pay ranks 46th in the country, that average teacher salaries are $10,000 less than the national average, and that average teacher pay increases in our state rank last from 2002 to 2012
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TIM TYSON AT THE MIC
The fiery oratory of NC NAACP Education Chair Tim Tyson is a regular feature of the Moral Monday movement. Tyson: “We haven't seen a movement like this since the 60s. We're growing a coalition, learning to work it together on all issues. It's true that the poverty is worse right now than it has been in decades. People are really hurting. The conservatives who control the state right now are more virulent than we've seen in years. . . . But the point is the resistance. It's a movement. It's growing. It's spreading. It's far from over."
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ORGANIZED LABOR SPEAKS!
"Us farmworkers have been excluded in some way from every labor law passed in this country at the state and federal level," charged Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) President Baldemar Velasquez, one of many compelling Labor organizers speaking at the July 1 Moral Monday. "But we won't let these laws dictate whether or not we can form unions and protect ourselves in the workplace, and we won't stand by and let this legislature pass laws that hurt our communities," he continued. FLOC and eleven other labor groups—including the South Carolina AFL-CIO, UE Local 150, the North Carolina Public Service Workers Union, the Southern Piedmont Central Labor Council, the Carolina Workers Organizing Committee of Fast Food Workers, OUR Walmart, the National Nurses Organizing Committee, and Triangle Jobs with Justice--staged demonstrations in six cities across the South on Nov. 1 as a measure of their disapproval of the prosecution of labor activists and other protestors at Moral Mondays.
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WOMEN IN PINK
Pink shirts and tops were everywhere at rallies. They symbolized solidarity with CODEPINK, an anti-war and social justice movement supported by mostly women. The tenth Moral Monday was soaked in pink, with many protestors turning out to rail against the new Family, Faith, and Freedom Protection Act, a bill that had just passed the Senate, one that would severely restrict a woman’s right to abortion. “I’m a firm believer in women having control over their own bodies,” said UNC nursing professor Deborah Mayer. “I don’t want us to have to go back to the days I grew up with.”
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INSPIRED LEADERSHIP!
The success of past and future Moral Mondays rests squarely with our NAACP chapter, always under the dynamic, inspirational leadership of Rev. Barber. The deep organization behind each Monday—setting a roster of speakers, orienting those who would risk arrest, coordinating with security, putting in place a support team of attorneys for arrestees, recording and circulating the testimony of arrestees, working with media, and maintaining a positive, inclusive approach to legislators—is testament to the careful thinking-through of each event. The NAACP’s Moral Monday template now serves as a model for other states in our region, like Alabama’s Truth and Justice Tuesdays. As Rev. Barber says, “There is no stopping this deep, moral, constitutional critique of public policy. It is a must.”
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EVEN THE STONES CRY OUT!
Be quiet! Go away!, some North Carolina lawmakers said. But Moral Monday speakers say that they must speak. With the passage of unjust, oppressive laws that take away help to the uninsured, health insurance for the poor, adequate funding for schools, and arbitrarily obstruct access to health care for women, they must speak. If they didn’t, the very stones would cry out,echoing passages from the Bible. U. S. Rep. David Price is just one of those speakers. Among the many speakers who have raised their voices are North Carolina legislators Ellie Kinnaird of Orange County, Earline Parmon of Forsyth County, Carla Cunningham of Mecklenburg County, Pricey Harrison of Guilford County, Mike Woodard of Durham County, and Garland Pierce, representing Hoke, Richmond, Robeson and Scotland Counties.
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FOR SHAME!
Dozens of inspirational speakers exhorted protestors to speak out against the many harmful new laws that discriminate against our most vulnerable populations. The expression worn by this figure, State Senator Earline Parmon, suggests an accusation of shame and one caught up in the anguish of knowing that many thousands across the state will suffer. Speakers at Moral Mondays did their homework! They laid indisputable fact and moving stories from everyday people on the altar of justice and fair play.
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GIVING VOICE TO THOSE WHO HAVE NO VOICE!
Anita Earls, founder of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice and long-time civil rights attorney, speaks to the crowd at a Moral Monday rally. Like Anita, protestors and speakers delivered moving testimony both on the dais and to the press at movement rallies. Roberta Penn, for example, took aim at Budget Director Art Pope’s treatment of workers and argued that Pope “is destroying their jobs, their rights, their medical.” Bishop Gerald Sylver felt that he had “to give voice to the pain of those who have no voice” and welcomed the “opportunity to show great disdain for the policies that are being made in the legislature.” Chris Carter saw “a very calculated attack on environmental quality in the state.” And Charles Warren saw “so much to hurt the middle class, the unemployed, taking Medicaid away from 500,000 people, reducing unemployment [insurance].”
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DEAR REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS: STOP ATTACKING!
"Do yourself a favor and go set your Google news alert to North Carolina Republicans,” suggested MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. “They have completely unchecked power right now, and their ideas about how to use that power are, as the political scientists say, rather amazeballs." This sign refers to some of the issues that Republican lawmakers addressed. Like the protestor holding the sign, Laurel Green of Charlotte felt that “There are way too many reasons I felt compelled to take a stand as a part of Moral Mondays. From the privatization trend in our state to the outrageous intrusions on women’s choices, from the dismantling of safety nets to the destruction of our environment, to the attempts at ripping away progress in civil rights, to the shredding of our public education system, the list is long and horrifying. North Carolina is being used as a petri dish right now by groups like ALEC; if we cannot stop them, surely other states will follow.”
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JOURNALISTS WERE EVERYWHERE!
Mainstream and independent media streamed into Raleigh to cover Moral Mondays. Many journalists referred to Raleigh as the epicenter of American grassroots activism. The New York Times editorial board wrote that: “North Carolina was once considered a beacon of farsightedness in the South, an exception in a region of poor education, intolerance and tightfistedness. In a few short months, Republicans have begun to dismantle a reputation that took years to build.” Truthout columnist Thom Hartmann wrote this: “Reverend Doctor William Barber is the face of god today, reminding us what moral outrage looks like.”
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MARCHING FOR MADISON!
Flanked by wide columns of supporters, defiant protestors march into the Legislative Building to petition lawmakers to meet with them. As Moral Monday rallies grew in numbers, the setting moved from Bicentennial Mall to Halifax Mall, shown here. 12-year-old Madison Kimrey from Burlington offers this personal observation: “One of the most powerful parts of my whole experience yesterday was the crowd parting and the people . . . walking inside the Legislature. Those people knew what was going to happen when they got inside. They knew they were going to be taken to jail. They were going to be taken to jail because they want me to have rights.”
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REPRESENTING THE PEOPLE!
This scene, on the third floor of the Legislative Building, reveals the spirit, purposefulness, and optimism of protestors. Many of their songs and chants were drawn from the Civil Rights Era in American history. During each Moral Monday in Raleigh, from April through July, protestors gathered to act on the constitutional guarantee that they could assemble and petition their representatives when these officials did not fairly represent the best interests of the people.
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THE SIGNS OF OUR TIMES!
Protestors in front of the doors of the Senate Chamber in the Legislative Building carry signs that address two of the many issues addressed during Moral Monday events. Claiming the Medicaid system was “broken,” Governor McCrory refused to accept federal funding for Medicaid, a decision that now affects more than 500,000 people in our state. The Racial Justice Act was repealed by the current legislature. Its intent was to allow condemned prisoners the right to access statistical records to reveal that race may have influenced their sentencing.
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A PRAYER FOR JUSTICE
Moral Mondays began with a simple call to prayer by Rev. Barber. As George Reed, Executive Director, NC Council of Churches, describes this moment, the idea was to invite “people of faith to prayer, to pursue the ‘moral high ground’ of nonviolent protest and peaceful assembly, to register distress at the direction our state was being taken by the General Assembly and Governor.”
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A DOCTOR DEFENDS HIS PATIENTS!
Protestors on the second floor of the Legislative Building were arrested if they refused to disperse. The charges: singing, chanting, holding signs, and trespassing. In this photo, Dr. Charles van der Horst, Developmental Core Director at the UNC Center for AIDS Research, is handcuffed and led to a holding area by a security officer on May 6, 2013. On December 11, 2013, Dr. van der Horst was found guilty in Wake County District Court of second-degree trespass. Discussing his decision to risk arrest, van der Horst said that he had been unsuccessful in attempts to meet with lawmakers regarding their decision to reject Medicaid expansion. During his testimony, van der Horst explained that, “There was this frustration that I couldn’t make my voice heard, and I thought it was going to lead to the death of my patients.”
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ROBIN HOOD IN REVERSE!
Yesterday’s image of North Carolina as a moderate state sensitive to the needs of its residents has given way to today’s reality of a regressive state intent on making poor people suffer. In the 2013 legislative session, unemployment benefits were sharply reduced, access to Medicaid denied, voting privileges made more restrictive for populations near the poverty line, and public education, the path out of poverty, experienced a loss of some 9,000 positions, including 3,800 vitally important Teacher’s Aid positions. At the same time, this legislature rewarded the wealthy with substantial tax breaks and made it more difficult for workers to organize. At present, North Carolina is one of only two states that deny public sector workers collective bargaining rights.
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THE ARREST
For many protestors choosing to enter the Legislative Building and then refusing to disperse was no easy decision. It meant being arrested and long hours away from home. Then it meant deciding whether or not to accept the district attorney’s plea deal: a hefty fine and community service in exchange for having charges dropped. And if a protestor elected not to take the plea, it meant numerous court dates in Raleigh and the likelihood of a guilty verdict. Explaining her reason to be arrested, Darlene Burns put it this way: “My grandchildren. I want a better state for them to grow up in. I’ve got three that are still in the public schools. They’re decimating education and it’s not fair to the kids. It’s attacks on the unemployed, it’s turning down the Medicaid. It’s too many things to list. I’m nervous. I’ve never done this before. But it’s too important not to.”
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After arrestees were processed in the basement of the Legislative Building, they were put on prison buses and taken to a detention facility in Garner, NC. Hundreds of protestors gathered adjacent to the buses to show spirited solidarity with arrestees as they boarded buses. Here, Rev. Barber, Rob Stephens, then-Field Secretary of the NC NAACP, and Dr. Tim Tyson, NC NAACP Education Chair and Duke University historian, lead supporters in standing with arrestees.
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INMATE TRANSFER:
Trained security personnel were part of Moral Mondays. In this image, officers await arrested protestors who will be bused to a detention center for further processing. While officers’ collective posture indicates a readiness for confrontation, from one Monday to the next protestors were peaceful and well mannered. “That’s part of the nonviolent tradition,” explained protestor Bob Zellner of Wilson,” to approach the people on the other side. We think that’s very important.” Zellner is a former Field Secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, an organization in the thick of 1960s civil rights activity
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CROWDS GATHER TO SUPPORT ARRESTEES
Protestors in great numbers cheered loudly in support of handcuffed arrestees as they boarded prison buses. Arrestee Jay O’Berski, a Duke University professor, recalls the experience: “It is a sweaty, mesh-windowed prison bus straight out of ‘Cool Hand Luke.’ When your bus pulls out, the NAACP has organized people chanting, ‘Thank you, we love you,’ screaming through bullhorns.” And retiree Gayle Shepherd describes the experience this way: "It was an amazing feeling, not just to know that they were cheering for us but that they were all here to support North Carolina." — at North Carolina Legislative Building.
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CROWDS GATHER TO SUPPORT ARRESTEES
Protestors in great numbers cheered loudly in support of handcuffed arrestees as they boarded prison buses. Arrestee Jay O’Berski, a Duke University professor, recalls the experience: “It is a sweaty, mesh-windowed prison bus straight out of ‘Cool Hand Luke.’ When your bus pulls out, the NAACP has organized people chanting, ‘Thank you, we love you,’ screaming through bullhorns.” And retiree Gayle Shepherd describes the experience this way: "It was an amazing feeling, not just to know that they were cheering for us but that they were all here to support North Carolina." — at North Carolina Legislative Building.
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