Yesterday was the 52nd anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which took place in 1963. It is an important part of civil rights history, and we honor it. More important is the movement that is taking place now, because the dreams evoked in the past have not yet been fulfilled, and since that time many of the struggles we won have been undermined. There are those in this country who want to turn the clock back.
The NAACP kicked off an 860 mile march from Selma to Washington DC on Aug. 1, calling it “America’s Journey for Justice”.
Our Lives, Our Votes, Our Jobs, and Our Schools Matter. From August 1 to September 16, America’s Journey for Justice–an historic 860-mile march from Selma, Alabama, to Washington, D.C.–will mobilize activists and advance a focused national advocacy agenda that protects the right of every American to a fair criminal justice system, uncorrupted and unfettered access to the ballot box, sustainable jobs with a living wage, and equitable public education.
Each state march has a specific focus: Alabama (Economic Inequality), Georgia (Education Reform) South Carolina(Criminal Justice Reform).
Today the march enters North Carolina where voting rights is the major issue being targeted. North Carolina currently has the most repressive voter restriction and suppression laws in the United States.
Watch this video and hear Rev. William Barber, from the NC NAACP and Moral Mondays Movement talk about what is happening in North Carolina.
Follow me below the fold for more about the events that will be taking place, how you can get involved or offer support.
You can follow the march on twitter:
You can watch live streaming of events.
On YouTube check out the NC Forward Together Moral Movement Channel
America’s Journey For Justice will march through North Carolina from August 29th to September 7th. There will be several events through out the 10 day journey that the public is welcome to join!
North Carolina Journey For Justice Kick-Off
August 29, 2015
3:30 PM
New Hope United Methodist Church, 6761 HWY 1 N. Wallace, SC 29596Youth and Cultural Arts Teach-in
August 29, 2015
7:00 PM
Southern Middle School, 717 Johnson St., Aberdeen, NCVoting Rights Teach-In
August 31, 2015
7:00 PM
Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, 1801 Hillsborough St. Raleigh, NC 27605On August 31st, the NC Supreme Court will hear a case arguing the unconstitutionality of North Carolina’s race-based gerrymandered redistricting plan. That evening, we will hold a Voting Rights teach-in on the current fight against voter suppression in our state.
Voting Rights Act Simultaneous Press Conference/Letter Deliveries
September 1, 2015
10:00 AM
Congressional Offices located in 17 cities across the state.Voting Rights Rally
September 3, 2015
4:00 PM – March
Meet on South St. in downtown Raleigh
5:00 PM – Program & Rally
Bicentennial Mall at 16 W. Jones St. Raleigh, NCEach state along the Journey for Justice route focuses on a different issue from the NAACP national advocacy agenda. North Carolina’s focus is voting rights. On September 3rd, as marchers arrive in Raleigh, we will gather together to demand that Congress restore the Voting Rights Act and North Carolina Legislators protect rather than suppress the vote of the people they vowed to represent.
Lobby Day In D.C.
September 16, 2015The NC NAACP will take buses to D.C. to welcome marchers as they arrive in the city and spend the day talking with our Congress members about the national advocacy agenda.
We can do this! Get involved, and take action.
Unite and move Forward Together.
We cannot allow our rights to be eroded and buried by the right wingnuts who now control too many of our legislatures.
Amen to that.
I don’t have TV (choice) so don’t know what coverage this march is getting. I don’t see it in newspapers. Hope it will get lots of coverage. My admiration for the marchers is boundless.
It is getting covered in newspapers – have not seen anything on the national TV media much.
See this google link
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=%22Journey+for+Justice%22&tbm=nws
Excellent. Thanks. This should be a huge story.
Our states are plagued by the “don’t vote in mid-terms” disease. In 2016, we need to come out in force and take back states where we can and build momentum for 2018.
We can’t let up!!!
amen Jan.
midterms are so key. Now if we could get keyboard warriors who spend all their time whining off their asses and actually doing voter registration and GOTV work.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr
I wish there were words that would convince people to vote in midterms. I was sure that after people saw the awful things that had come out of the low-turnout midterm in 2010, THAT would be a big wakeup call and 2014 would sweep those rascals out of office. I was stunned when most of the governors were re-elected and Republican legislative majorities were expanded in the states and in the U.S. Congress. We lost the Senate, for crying out loud, pretty much ending our ability to confirm honest men and women to the federal judiciary.
The sad thing is that we outnumber Republicans. Our coalition is broad and welcoming: unions, minorities, people of color, low-wage earners, women, those who want social justice, those who care about others. If we all voted, we would take back the levers of power and make people’s lives better. The right to vote is not, for whatever reason, a constitutional right and, as we have seen, laws can be passed making it nearly impossible to vote. Laws are made by elected officials, not by presidential decree, and failure to exercise the franchise could quite literally result in our losing the franchise.
So we have tried cajoling people into voting, we have some pretty grim real life examples to show them … how do we get people to vote as if their lives depended on it? Because, really, they do.
Here is the welcoming video: Welcome to North Carolina
Video and a livestream of today’s events will be here: America’s Journey for Justice NC
Thanks!!