Moral Monday Service of Redemption

Monday, December 23, 2013, 4:00 PM, Halifax Mall - Behind the NC General Assembly, 16 W. Jones St. Raleigh,

(RALEIGH) - On November 26th, the NC NAACP and the Forward Together Moral Movement delivered a letter to Gov. McCrory signed by 3,000 people of good will calling on him to convene a Special Redemption Session of the legislature by December 23rd to rescind the laws that deny Medicaid to nearly 500,000 North Carolinians and unemployment benefits to 170,000 families. Since that letter was delivered, over 5,000 more people have signed on.

On Monday, December 23rd, the NC NAACP and the Forward Together Moral Movement will hold a Moral Monday Service of Redemption beginning at 4:00 pm at Halifax Mall in downtown Raleigh. We hope that this Service will be a time to celebrate Gov. McCrory's successful Special Redemption Session and the General Assembly's grace and wisdom in rescinding these two inhumane laws rejecting funds for Medicaid and unemployment benefits. North Carolina was the only state in the nation to refuse federal funds to continue providing emergency unemployment benefits and there have already been nine Republican governors to decide to expand Medicaid, several of whom initially denied it.

However, if Gov. Pat McCrory, Speaker Thom Tillis, President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, and Budget Director Art Pope insist on maintaining their course of destruction, we will continue our moral witness and protest. "We will witness against these policies which go directly against our deepest constitutional and moral values," said Dr. Barber, president of the North Carolina NAACP. "The Forward Together Moral Movement will not allow hundreds of thousands of our neighbors in North Carolina to be crucified without a moral witness."

If Gov. McCrory has not called for a Special Redemption Session by December 23rd, we will call on him, Speaker Tillis, and Senate Leader Berger to use the seven days remaining to do the right thing. In preparation for the worst, at the Moral Monday Service of Redemption, the NC NAACP will announce a legal strategy if Gov. McCrory chooses to turn his back on the most vulnerable among us.

On 2 December 2013, the NC NAACP applied for a permit to hold this gathering on the South side of the State Capitol Grounds, where Gov. McCrory's office is located. In response to this request, Gov. McCrory's administration wrote that "it has been determined that a more appropriate location would be the Halifax mall" and denied the permit request. The Moral Monday Service of Redemption is a call to Governor McCrory and Halifax Mall is not within sight or sound of the Governor's office. On 20 December 2013, the NC NAACP filed a verified complaint and challenged this decision as unconstitutional and a violation of our First Amendment right to peacefully demonstrate in a traditional public forum. If we are still denied access by 4pm on 23 December 2013, we will lawfully walk to the Capitol from Halifax Mall.

Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities. The NC Conference of NAACP Branches is 70 years old this year and is made up of over 100 Adult, Youth and College NAACP units across the state, convenes the more the 150 members of the Historic Thousands on Jones Street (HKonJ) Peoples Assembly Coalition, and is the architect of the Moral Monday & Forward Together Movement.