Tens of Thousands March for Higher Ground in Raleigh

Nelda Holder   Photo: Urban News
Nelda Holder
Photo: Urban News
By Nelda Holder

“We believe in the fundamental principle of equality under the law,” exhorted Rev. Dr. William Barber II, speaking as thousands gathered to form a colorful sea of people, signs, and bright winter jackets and caps on the campus of Shaw University in Raleigh on February 8, 2014.

The HJonK rally attracted thousands of participants from various regions who marched from the campus of Shaw University to downtown Raleigh, NC on February 8.  Photo: Nelda Holder
The HJonK rally attracted thousands of participants from various regions who marched from the campus of Shaw University to downtown Raleigh, NC on February 8. Photo: Nelda Holder

Fleets of buses from across the state and even beyond were still discharging passengers or had already parked in neat rows on the overcast and chilly Saturday morning. But the rain that had been forecast did not arrive. Instead, more and more people poured onto the streets and the crowd stretched in all directions as Barber, president of the state NAACP, outlined the rules and the spirit of the day for the organization’s Moral March on Raleigh.

Intent on stressing the objectives of the march—voting rights; the rights of women, immigrants and labor; health care and the environment; and public education—he warned that signs pushing issues outside those objectives were not allowed in the parade of people taking to the streets.

Then, “because this is a moral march,” Barber asked several clergy leaders to perform a consecration ceremony that would “lift up the light” for the day’s purpose. It worked. By the end of the march, the sun broke through the clouds and cleared the entire Raleigh skyline.

N.C. Rep. Joe Sam Queen of Waynesville.
N.C. Rep. Joe Sam Queen of Waynesville.

But that was after the crowd, estimated to contain from 20,000 to more than 80,000 marchers, was channeled purposefully down Wilmington Street in the capital city for several blocks, then across to the Fayetteville Street promenade in the heart of the city, stretching to the grounds of the historic Capitol Building.

Well, it’s a great day for North Carolinaa real rainbow coalition here for jobs, justice, and equality for all. Were going to move forward in North Carolina, not one step behind.” ~ N.C. Rep. Joe Sam Queen of Waynesville

Barber would meet the crowd again there from the event’s main stage, his image greeting block after block of marchers from several giant overhead screens. (Other speakers led the assembly, but the line of marchers was too long for all to reach the area before Barber’s keynote speech.)

The eloquent Barber has been the backbone and rallying symbol of resistance in the state to a host of recent legislative initiatives that have cut public education spending, made complicated changes in voting laws, repealed the state’s landmark Racial Justice Act, and turned down the opportunity to insure hundreds of thousands under the federal Medicaid health care program—among other flash points on the legislative agenda.

Mary Klenz, Charlotte   Photo: Nelda Holder
Mary Klenz, Charlotte Photo: Nelda Holder

The changes were the rallying point for weeks of Moral Monday protests at the N.C. Statehouse during the past legislative session, which saw crowds of several thousand on the Statehouse mall and posted over 900 arrests in the Statehouse halls for civil disobedience—all in protest of the legislation being passed.

I was born in Wilmington so Im a native Tar Heel. Im here because like so many, I believe in personal responsibility. I have a personal responsibility to vote in my country, and that gives me a personal responsibility to fight every time the Legislature tries to take away my right to vote.

Vicky Boyer, Carrboro

Jackie Simms, Asheville   Photo: Nelda Holder
Jackie Simms, Asheville Photo: Nelda Holder

“This is a fight for the future and the soul of our state,” the protest movement’s leader declared before the sea of marchers. The Saturday gathering was the eighth yearly march under the banner of Historic Thousands on Jones Street (HKonJ)—a project of the NAACP since 2007 to highlight social justice issues in the state.

The HKonJ marches began when there was Democratic leadership of the Legislature, while the offshoot Moral Monday marches that began in 2013 came under Republican domination of the House, Senate, and governorship. But, Barber asserted, “This is not about Republican versus Democrat (nor) liberal versus conservative— it’s about right versus wrong.”

The Hall family (L-R), Javari, Joe, Geraldine, and Marva.  Photo: Nelda Holder
The Hall family (L-R), Javari, Joe, Geraldine, and Marva.
Photo: Nelda Holder

“We know who we are,” said Barber. “We know who they are,” he declared, speaking of the current Statehouse leadership. “Because a tree is known by the fruit it bears. That’s why we refuse to even call them Republican. We know progressive Republicans. My granddaddy was one of them in the 1800s,” Barber declared, naming Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt as additional historic examples.

“Even (President) Ronald Reagan supported the earned income tax credit,” he added, referring to another recent change in North Carolina that removed the credit—tied to a federal standard—that would have applied to several hundred thousand low-income North Carolinians.

The state has a history, Barber noted, of Republicans and Democrats who worked together, such as (Gov. James) Holshouser and (Gov. James) Martin (two Republican governors working with Democratic Legislatures). “We will see a rise of new leaders,” he prophesied, “where Republicans and Democrats will come together and do what’s best for all the people.”

I grew up in the Jim Crow South and am afraid the new voting laws will take us back there. I want to show the entire country that thousands and thousands of us are standing up to speak our truth to the legislators currently in power.” ~ Valerie Summers, Asheville

“This is not about Republican and Democrat…liberal and conservative…it’s about right versus wrong,” Barber said. “We refuse to accept the low road. As one author said, ‘Justice is what love looks like in public.’ We can be on higher ground if we remember we are our brother’s keeper.”

With that, the preacher in Barber took the crowd into a litany of what “higher ground” means to both a Bible-steeped culture and a protest-bent crowd. “We will mobilize, we will organize, we will pray, we will get off our knees and work…we will stand up, we will vote like never before…we will not give up—not now, not ever!”

And when the sun did come out—as the crowd was singing the civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome” in closing—Barber could be heard speaking again: “Give up a mighty shout! Give up a mighty shout! The sun has come out! The sun has come out! We are on our way to higher ground! Even the universe blesses us this day. Even the universe says yes—yes to justice, yes to equality, yes to higher ground! Come on give up a shout!”

This story is the editorial observation of Nelda Holder. Holder was arrested, along with 150 others, in the Moral Monday Statehouse protest on June 3, 2013. Her trial is not yet scheduled.