UU leaders urge attendance at N.C. 'moral rally'
Feb. 8 protest will focus on voter laws and other conservative legislation.
The North Carolina NAACP and a local coalition called Historic Thousands on Jones Street People's Assembly (or HKonJ)* are coordinating a march and rally to protest recent legislation that they say is aimed at repressing voter turnout, cutting education and health care funding, and curtailing unemployment benefits.
The rally follows 13 "Moral Monday" rallies in Raleigh in 2013 over these same issues. Approximately 1,000 people have been arrested at the rallies, including some UUs. There is no expectation that anyone will be arrested on Feb. 8, said Annette Marquis, the Unitarian Universalist Association's LGBTQ and Multicultural Ministries program manager, who is helping to coordinate UU participation.
More information, including how to register, is on the UUA's Standing on the Side of Love website.
In a statement Jan. 13, UUA President Peter Morales said the issues being confronted in North Carolina are present in other states as well and the time has come to take a stand.
"This isn't just about North Carolina," Morales said. "Just as Arizona became the flashpoint for immigration reform in 2010, immigration reform is a national issue. North Carolina represents how states across the country are trying to take away people's right to vote. Today, it's North Carolina, but tomorrow it could be, and perhaps already is, your state. . . . Now is our time to make it clear that any restrictions of voting rights will not be tolerated by the American people."
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Correction 1.28.14: An earlier version of this article misstated the full name of HKonJ, one of the organizing groups. Click here to return to the corrected paragraph.
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