Aug. 23, 2013. The “Forward Together/Moral Monday” movement is coming to Boone. A rally at the Harvest House on Wednesday, Aug. 28, will spotlight recent legislation in Raleigh that has attempted to turn the clocks backward on equal rights and social justice in the state.
The rally, called “Taking the Dream Home,” will convene at 5:30 p.m. and will feature both local and statewide speakers and musical entertainment. This is one of 13 simultaneous rallies across North Carolina, one in every Congressional district in the state.
Following four months of consecutive Monday protests and civil disobedience at the General Assembly in Raleigh, the Forward Together/Moral Monday movement has fanned out across North Carolina.
“Concerned citizens are gathering to voice disagreement with government policies that disproportionately impact the poor, the unemployed, the young, and the elderly. Of particular concern in Watauga County is equal access to the ballot for all voters,” Marjorie McKinney, an organizer for the Boone event, said.
Almost 1,000 persons have been arrested in Raleigh for peaceably occupying the rotunda in the General Assembly building. Some 10 people from Watauga County have been among those arrested, and they will be recognized as “Moral Witnesses” at the Watauga rally.
Moral Mondays were started and led by Rev. William Barber, president of the North Carolina NAACP. Barber has been joined by dozens of other groups advocating for voting rights, workers rights, women’s rights, by teacher’s groups and organizations serving the poor and the homeless.
The Aug. 28 rally commemorates the 50th anniversary of the march on Washington in 1963 and Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech.”
McKinney said that the Watauga event has been planned by a coalition of non-profit and progressive groups and individuals who are concerned about the direction that state and local governments have been heading this year.
Well-known performers including Melissa Reaves, the choir of the Mennonite Brethren Church, and jazzman Todd Wright will be providing musical entertainment at the rally.
Local speakers include Dr. Matthew Robinson of Appalachian State University; Rev. Tommy Brown, Presbyterian campus minister; Todd Carter of the Hospitality House; Rio Tazewell, Boone Community Network; Dr. Marye Hacker; among others.
A Facebook event page is available with additional information: https://www.facebook.com/events/187542724751878/.
A N.C. NAACP Facebook post noted that Mark Boyd will be live-streaming the Taking the Dream Home to Boone rally and you can watch the video at http://ustream.tv/channel/artister on Aug. 28.
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