Rally in Raleigh: Thousands march in N.C. for social and environmental justice

[xchrom]

http://grist.org/politics/rally-in-raleigh-thousands-march-in-n-c-for-social-and-environmental-justice/

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Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the “Moral March” in Raleigh, N.C., a civil rights march for progressive policies that’s happened every February since 2007. The rally is organized by the Forward Together movement and the Historic Thousands on Jones Street People’s Assembly (aka “HKonJ”), a coalition of hundreds of social justice organizations covering a wide swath of issues including labor, immigration, education, economic justice, voting rights, criminal justice, and environmental justice.

The march, attended this year by an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 people, is probably the best example in the nation of a statewide, multi-racial coalition that has prioritized promoting the intersectional plight of civil rights, politics, economy, and the environment in America. The images in this post should give you a picture of just how impressively diverse in terms of race, age, and areas of interest the marchers were.

Last year, the Moral March was the jump-off for a proactive campaign sending a message to the just-elected Republican Gov. Pat McCrory and the Republican-dominated legislature not to roll back progressive policies the coalition helped create over the previous decade. But conservative lawmakers proved ruthless. Prodded by their friends in the business-industry advocacy group American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the ultra-conservative, state-based Civitas Institute, Republican legislators passed laws that cut $38 million from the state’s budget for economic and community development initiatives, shifted $10 million from the public school system to private schools, refused federal funding to expand Medicaid, and repealed the state’s Racial Justice Act, which examined racial bias in death penalty sentencing.



***it all has to work together as a whole.

[Scuba]

1. It never happened, otherwise the "liberal media" would have been all over it.

[daleanime]

2. K&R....

[Laelth]

3. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth

[marions ghost]

4. Anti-fracking groups well represented:

The Raleigh News and Observer had a good article in November 2013:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/11/21/3393865/nc-must-say-no-to-allowing-fracking.html

Frack Free NC and partners:

http://frackfreenc.org/partners/

Associates:
Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League
Canary Coalition (statewide)
Catawba Riverkeeper (Catawba River Basin)
Clean Water for North Carolina (Statewide)
Community United Church of Christ Social Justice Ministry – Raleigh (Wake Co.)
Dan River Basin Association
Environment North Carolina (Statewide)
Food and Water Watch (Statewide)
Haw River Assembly (Guilford, Rockingham, Caswell, Alamance, Orange, Chatham, Wake and Durham Counties)
Lee County Say NO to Fracking (Lee County)
NC WARN (Statewide)
Neuse Riverkeeper Foundation (Upper Neuse River Basin)
No Fracking in Stokes (Stokes County)
Occupy Winston-Salem (Forsyth County)
Pamlico-Tar River Foundation (Tar-Pamlico River Basin)
Pee Dee Water Air, Land and Lives (W.A.L.L.) (Anson, Montgomery, and Richmond Counties)
Preserve Carolina (Chatham County)
River Guardian Foundation (Statewide with emphasis on Neuse River Basin)
Save Our Sandhills (Moore County)
Sewage Sludge Action Network (Statewide)
Stand Your Ground NC w/Ed Harris Against Fracking (Lee County – Contact tel [phone])
Waterkeepers Carolina (Statewide)
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom – Triangle Chapter
Workers for Clean Water (Lee County)
Yadkin Riverkeeper (Yadkin River Basin)
350.org
350 Winston Salem (Forsyth County)

Also:

http://www.ncconservationnetwork.org/nofracking

[countryjake]

5. K&R!

[stuntcat]

6. NCeeee!!!!

Sometimes I'm so proud of MY STATE