Barber, who led Monday\u2019s protest, is a minister and professor at Yale Divinity School best known for spearheading the Moral Mondays movement, a series of mass civil disobedience protests against GOP rollbacks of progressive laws in the state. At their height in 2014, the protests drew an estimated 80,000 people to Raleigh and inspired similar demonstrations nationwide.<\/span><\/p>\n

Monday\u2019s turnout couldn\u2019t rival the Moral Mondays movement at its peak, but protestors hope that the demonstration will encourage the House to reconsider the override.<\/span><\/p>\n

The crowd included spiritual leaders from across the state, university students, retired couples, and children in strollers. Speakers from Western N. C. traveled to Raleigh by bus to share stories of loved ones suffering in the wake of the hurricane.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have run out of adjectives to describe the devastation for you,\u201d said Vicki Meath, director of Just Economics in Asheville. \u201cIt is painful to live through the worst disaster in North Carolina\u2019s recorded history.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThen, to have our pain and devastation used as a front for a bill that does not deliver the needed aid to my community, but rather subverts our democracy as a power grab and ignores the will of the people,\u201d she continued. \u201cThat is a slap in the face to Western North Carolina.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jen Hampton, an organizer with Just Economics and Asheville Food and Beverage United, recounted the story of a single mother in her union facing eviction after Hurricane Helene destroyed her livelihood.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe is likely to be served an eviction notice this week and will be living in a car with her seven-year-old daughter by Christmas,\u201d she said. \u201cThis little western North Carolina family was doing fine before Helene. Now, this mother is struggling, trying to get warm sleeping bags so her child doesn\u2019t freeze to death.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Barber said that his organization, Repairers of the Breach, would pledge $25,000 to struggling families like the one Hampton described.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWoe unto you who legislate evil, rob the poor of their rights, and make women and children your prey,\u201d Barber said. \u201cI fear for you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Protesters cheered the speakers on, waving signs into the air. Emily Holloway of Fuquay-Varina carried a homemade, painted sign with the words \u201cVeto, we have the power\u201d atop an American flag. She hopes the protest will help raise awareness about the bill.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo many people don\u2019t have a clue what\u2019s in the bill,\u201d Holloway said. \u201cWhen I started reading, I was shocked. So we do what we can. We use our voice.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Maple Osterbrink, a 70-year-old Chapel Hill resident and community activist, carried a large duck head and a sign attached to her stomach that read, \u201cDon\u2019t Duck Us.\u201d Harry Taylor, who commuted from Charlotte to Raleigh, wore a backpack carrying a five-foot tall inflatable puppet and toilet seat that read \u201cFlush Gerrymander.\u201d Taylor is a Moral Mondays veteran\u2014he attended the early rallies in 2013 and has attended six since.<\/span><\/p>\n

As for the toilet seat? \u201cYou\u2019ve got to capture people somehow, and get them to think,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople don\u2019t read books, so this is how I get people\u2019s attention.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Following an hour of impassioned speeches, protesters signed letters addressed to the N.C. General Assembly. They marched the letters over from the Capitol to the General Assembly and delivered them in a heap in front of the building gates.<\/span><\/p>\n

As the protestors shone multicolored flashlights into the legislative building, leaders emphasized the importance of the impending vote.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI need to see you all back here on Wednesday at 10:30 to set it off again,\u201d said Sangria Noble, a community organizer with Repairers of the Breach. \u201cShine a light on them.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The House is scheduled to consider the SB 382 override on Wednesday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Above: Rev. William Barber led protests in Raleigh on Monday ahead of a vote in the legislature this Wednesday. Photos by Kulsoom Rizavi \u2014 The 9th Street Journal\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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