Raleigh, NC – An estimated 80,000 to 100,000 people mobilized early in the morning of Feb.8 for the annual Historic Thousands on Jones Street in Raleigh, organized by the NAACP. This march was in conjunction with the start of the Moral Marches for 2014, intended to continue the momentum from last year's Moral Monday movement, in which thousands of protesters demonstrated at the doorstep of the state capitol. Over 900 people were arrested during acts of civil disobedience during the 2013 protests, refusing to give up their right to assembly.

Buses came from over 18 cities all across North Carolina. “Following the powerful Mountain Moral Monday last summer, seats quickly sold on five busses from Asheville alone. It is clear that the fight back against extreme attacks on workers, women, immigrants, teachers and students from our state legislature is getting off to a strong start in 2014,” said Sarah Buchner, of Asheville.

Despite the gusting wind and freezing temperatures, Civil Rights veteran 92-year-old Rosanell Eaton led the crowd in chants of “Fed up, fired up!” to kick start a spirited march through downtown Raleigh.

Organizers of the march made five demands:

1. Secure pro-labor, anti-poverty policies that insure economic sustainability.
2. Provide well-funded, quality public education for all.
3. Promote health care for all, including affordable access, the expansion of Medicaid, women's health and environmental justice in every community.
4. Address the continuing disparities in the criminal justice system on the basis of race and class.
5. Defend and expand voting rights, women's rights, immigrants' rights, LGBT rights and the fundamental principle of equality under the law for all people

Erin Byrd, a member of Black Workers for Justice spoke to the crowd, “We march for women. We march for every single woman who has lost unemployment benefits and still pushes their children forward. We march for every women who sends their child out into the world praying that they get home safely and aren’t gunned down because they’re playing their music too loud, or because they’re wearing a hoodie, or because they’ve got skittles in their pocket. We march for every woman who knows stand your ground laws don’t make your child any safer. Women are the 54%, that’s why we have to march and why we have to mobilize and why we’ve got to vote.”

One of the largest contingents in the march was the fast food workers, who have a campaign to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour. Organizers came from North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia wearing red “Raise up” hats and carrying banners that said “Raise up for $15”, “We are worth more” and “Organize the South”.

The turnout and spirit of the event indicates that 2014 will be a year of increased struggle in North Carolina.

#RaleighNC #Labor #AfricanAmerican #HkonJ

Raleigh, NC – Over 4000 people marched in downtown Raleigh on Feb. 12 for the 5th annual Historic Thousands on Jones Street (HKonJ) protest, organized by the NAACP and the HKonJ Coalition, which is composed of 107 civil rights, religious and social justice organizations. Buses and caravans converged from across the state of North Carolina for the annual protest which centers on a 14-point political program [http://hkonj.com/] for economic justice and civil rights.

Some of the major issues of this year's rally were the ongoing struggle over re-segregation of Wake County schools; the racist attacks on immigrant youth and the struggle for immigrant rights; the effects of the economic crisis on the Black and Latino communities in the state; education cuts to primary schools and higher education; the Racial Justice Act and the disproportionate use of the death penalty against oppressed nationalities; and the lack of collective bargaining for public sector workers in North Carolina.

Addressing these issues, the Reverend William Barber, president of the North Carolina NAACP, told a cheering crowd, “We will challenge Democrats who are not progressive. We will challenge Republicans who attempt to revise history.” Republicans are the majority in the state legislature for the first time in 100 years, but the state has a democratic governor, Bev Perdue. In his speech, Rev. Barber said Gov. Perdue should “Veto everything that's wrong.”

Ben Jealous, president of NAACP, marched on Jones Street and spoke to the crowd about segregation. “We're still fighting the old Jim Crow,” Jealous declared. “When they come to you and start preaching 'separate but equal', [remember] it was a lie then, it's a lie now.”

One of the most powerful speakers of the day was Loida Ginocchio-Silva, a young activist with the North Carolina DREAM Team, an immigrant rights organization. In her bi-lingual speech, which brought roars from the crowd, Ginocchio-Silva said, “I'm a human being. And no human can be illegal. On this stage, I am breaking the law. But I say, an unjust law is no law at all. We know that the Jim Crow laws were also laws in this country. I'm here to represent the thousands of undocumented youth whose humanity is currently being criminalized!”

Several of the speakers referenced the democratic struggles of the Egyptian and Tunisian peoples, which brought cheers from the crowd.

The demonstration showed a powerful unity between many nationalities, organizations and causes. The thousands who marched together promised to continue fighting for justice and to support the struggles of all the oppressed in North Carolina.

#RaleighNC #HKOnJ #NAACP #AfricanAmerican #NorthCarolinaDREAMTeam

Raleigh, NC – Over 4000 people, the majority African American, marched in downtown Raleigh, Feb. 14, in a show of force organized by the North Carolina NAACP. This is the third year that “HK on J” (Historic Thousands on Jones Street) has taken place, bringing together over 85 grassroots organizations, trade unions, coalitions and churches around a 14-point program for change. The 14-point program is centered around addressing the needs of the African American community, low-income people, immigrants rights and ending the war.

“We are gathering to continue to remind our state legislators and other elected officials that our 14-point agenda and more than 80 action items are still relevant. The people of this state who turned out in record numbers to vote last November want to see real change,” said North Carolina NAACP President Dr. William Barber. “And further, we are coming to further say, in the midst of this current financial crisis, ‘Do not balance this budget on the backs of the poor.’”

Hundreds of students and trade unionists from across North Carolina mobilized for the protest. The program also featured speeches from workers who won union recognition at the Smithfield processing plant and UE union members who occupied their factory in Chicago.

Dr. Barber and other leaders of the HK on J movement urged the thousands in attendance to keep building the grassroots movements for change. In particular, the speakers emphasized the importance of building as broad a movement as possible to oppose massive cuts to social services and people’s needs.

#RaleighNC #CapitalismAndEconomy #PoorPeoplesMovements #Labor #News #HKOnJ #NAACP #BlackLiberationMovement #BudgetCrisis #capitalistCrisis