Feb. 3, 2015. The Watauga Branch of the NAACP, along with the local Forward Together Movement, is chartering a bus to the HKonJ People’s Assembly and Moral March on Raleigh taking place Saturday, Feb. 14. The march, last year deemed the largest civil rights march in the South since Selma, will begin at 10 a.m., between South St. and MLK Jr. Blvd. and will proceed to the doorstep of the State Capitol.
For the past eight years, a fusion movement (bringing together a wide-range of organizations to form a boarder coalition committed to social justice) has been growing in North Carolina. In 2006, the Historic Thousands on Jones St. (HKonJ) People’s Assembly Coalition was formed under the leadership of Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II and the North Carolina NAACP. It has grown to include over 150 coalition partners. Each year this fusion movement comes together on the second Saturday in February to hold a mass people’s assembly to reaffirm its commitment to the 14 Point People’s Agenda and to hold lawmakers accountable to the people of North Carolina. This year, since the date falls on Valentine’s Day, the theme is “Moral March on Raleigh for Love + Justice.”
The chartered bus will be leaving at 6 a.m. the morning of Feb. 14 from St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and will return at 5 p.m. that same evening. The cost per person is $35. Anyone interested in reserving a seat on the bus must contact Marg McKinney at mckinnymj@yahoo.com or 828-264-4310. Seating is limited and only 25 seats remain.
Riders will be asked to provide their name, email, local phone, mobile phone and emergency contact. Additionally, they are asked to bring food and water for breakfast and snacks. There will be a lunch stop at a cafeteria on the way back to Boone. There is a restroom on board the Horizon Coach and limited space under the bus for signage.
For those interested in learning more about the march and its local contingent, a press conference, in conjunction with coalition partners and local clergy, will be held Tuesday Feb. 3 at 2 p.m. in the Boone Town Hall Council Chambers.
About the Watauga NAACP: Officially chartered on Feb. 15, 2014, the Watauga Branch of the NAACP Branch formed as a result of the Moral Mondays demonstrations, organized by the North Carolina NAACP. These demonstrations were to protest General Assembly legislative policies such as voting law changes, cuts to unemployment benefits, public education cuts and the decision not to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. The protests broadened into the Forward Together movement, with local Forward Together groups forming across the state, including Watauga County, and holding their own Moral Monday demonstrations.
General Membership meetings are open to everyone and are held monthly on the third Sunday of each month, 4 p.m. at Boone Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 381 East King St. The next meeting is scheduled for Sunday Feb. 15 and the community has an open invitation to this, as well as all other and all subsequent monthly general meetings, to learn more and to get involved at the local level. New members are welcome at any time throughout the year.
For further information, please contact Allison Jennings at WataugaNAACP@gmail.com. To learn more about the Watauga NAACP Branch, visit them online at www.watauganaacp.weebly.com and follow them on Facebook/WataugaNAACP and Twitter @WataugaNAACP
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