In the past weeks, our team has made great progress in our goals to increase outreach to rural communities. Just last week we met with the Native American Intertribal Counsel in Hoke County. We were invited into their community meeting area where they hold meetings, movie nights, and various other gatherings. We had the opportunity [...]
Again this week, the students participating in the Democracy Summer program are showing the work they're doing every day through photos. The images below offer a view through the lens of the young people who are on the front lines of the fight for voting rights -and so much more- in this state. From historical [...]
Over the past week, the Democracy Summer interns have been hard at work across the state carrying the message that our state wants a government that is of, by, and for the people, free of the influence of big money. Students had the opportunity to speak to their local community groups, join in demonstrations at [...]
State legislators and the governor had very little to say about the Moral Monday rallies and arrests during April and May. At most, they told reporters they acknowledged people’s First Amendment right to speech and assembly, but firmly said the crowds would not sway their positions or deter them from their agenda. As the crowds [...]
“Democracy was coming back to North Carolina.” “It had been a long time since I had seen people come together in a massive movement to make change. I had not seen as huge a crowd since 2010, as during the health care movement. I didn’t think that was possible again in North Carolina,” says Dr. [...]
This was indeed a long but exciting week! We started off protesting at the NC Legislature in Raleigh during Mega Moral Monday. The mass rally was an exciting experience for us as interns, and everyone that came out in support was fired up! Seeing the huge crowd of supporters as well as the number of [...]
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 [...]
In a bold move, 14 current NC Court of Appeals judges - Republicans and Democrats - have sent a joint letter to General Assembly leaders and Gov. Pat McCrory declaring their firm support for the judicial public financing program. In the letter, the judges note that the public financing system "helps restore public confidence in [...]
The Fayetteville team covered substantial territory in Southeastern NC in our first full week of organizing with Democracy NC. First, we participated in stops of the NAACP’s “Forward Together tour. The passion we witnessed during the tour has been inspiring and being in such rural regions really highlighted the importance of grassroots organizing. Next, we [...]
On Wednesday of last week, I had the opportunity to attend the Chapel Hill stop of the statewide organizing tours being conducted by the North Carolina NAACP and various other organizations in the Historic Thousands on Jones Street coalition. In addition to thoroughly enjoying the Raging Grannies, I was struck with the level of enthusiasm [...]