This was our second week in the field, and what a crazy, exciting week it has been! On Monday we went to Raleigh for our first Moral Monday experience. The event lived up to the name “Mega Moral Monday,” with more than 1600 protesters, 150 of whom were arrested for civil disobedience. It was incredible to see people who support so many different causes come together, stand up to the legislature and say “enough is enough!”
The energy at the event was unreal. Hearing Reverend Barber and other speakers share stories about what they were fighting for was eye-opening and inspirational. This was also a great opportunity to inform folks about what we’re doing at Democracy NC and get signatures for our voting rights petition.
Tuesday was equally exhilarating because we scheduled an appearance on a TV talk show at a local station in Kinston. It will be the first time either one of us does something like this, so we are both excited and nervous about the experience.
We also had our first speaking engagement on Tuesday. In preparation for the NAACP tour stop in New Bern, we each wrote speeches about voting rights. When we arrived, there were about 100 people there for the meeting, quite a bit more than we expected. After Reverend Barber spoke, we realized that he pretty much covered all the material from our speeches so he asked us to speak about Moral Monday from a college student’s perspective. So when it was our turn to speak, we made up a speech right on the spot. I have to say, I was proud at how seamlessly it went and so was Jake! Afterwards he said we were “true organizers,” for putting something together at the last second.
All in all, we are very optimistic about the rest of the summer. Things have gotten off to a fantastic start!
Cassy and Martina – Greenville Team
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