Local NAACP News – June 2016

by Carmen Ramos-Kennedy –

Moral Monday gathering to take place in Sylva on June 13, 2016. Rev. Dr. William Barber II to speak.

A coalition of organizations led by the Jackson County Branch of the NAACP is coordinating a Moral Monday gathering to be held at Bridge Park in downtown Sylva on Monday, June 13, starting at 5 p.m. Dr. William Barber II, President of the NC NAACP, will be the keynote speaker.

The nonpartisan Moral Mondays movement began 10 years ago as the HK on J (Historic Thousands on Jones Street) Coalition in North Carolina to oppose legislation that negatively impacts the most vulnerable citizens in our state.

Among other actions of the General Assembly, the movement has opposed NC’s new restrictive voter ID law, its refusal to accept federal funding for the expansion of Medicaid, cuts in the Unemployment Insurance Program, rescinding of the Criminal Justice Act, cuts in funding for public education, the weakening of environmental standards and enforcement, and intrusion into local control on numerous occasions, including, most recently, HB2, which discriminates against transgendered people, prohibits government bodies from protecting LGBT citizens, and restricts the right of all North Carolinians to challenge workplace discrimination.

In addition to Dr. Barber, other speakers at the event will include Connie Jean Conklin and Leslie Boyd, on limited healthcare access; John deVille, a teacher in Franklin, on public educational spending cuts; and citizens disenfranchised by voter restrictions, overwhelmed by student loan debt, and impacted by HB2.

Live music at the event will include a performance by nationally acclaimed singer-songwriter David LaMotte, the Green Grannies of Asheville, and Sylva resident Stella Moore, who will lead the gathering in singing songs of the Movement. The gathering will begin with the Sounding of the Shofar by Frank Goldsmith of WNC Jews for Justice, a welcome by Sylva Mayor Lynda Sossaman, and Rev. Charles Lee of Liberty Baptist Church in Sylva as Master of Ceremonies.

Coalition partners in organizing and sponsoring the event include the Asheville, Hendersonville, Transylvania County, and Haywood County Branches and Working Groups of the NAACP, Liberty Baptist Church of Sylva, Democracy NC, The Canary Coalition, WNC Physicians for Social Responsibility, OccupyWNC, Equality NC, WNC Jews for Justice, Jackson County Veterans Support Group, Mountain People’s Assembly, Mountain Voices Alliance, the Far West Local Program Unit of the NC National Association of Social Workers, and Mountain Allies for Public Schools.

A number of organizations who are coalition partners will be setting up information tables and booths at Bridge Park. The Jackson County Branch of the NAACP will be providing voter registration forms and guidance in filling them out. Membership forms will also be available for those who may wish to join the NAACP.

For more information about the event, please contact Avram Friedman, 1st Vice-President of the Jackson County Branch of the NAACP and Executive Director of the Canary Coalition, at (828) 631-3447.

Voter restrictions appealed to Fourth Circuit

Five months before the 2016 election, the NC NAACP has appealed U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Schroeder’s ruling dismissing its suit against the state’s restrictive voting law. In April Schroeder issued a 485-page ruling dismissing all claims in the challenge to the state’s draconian 2013 election law.

A George W. Bush appointee, Schroeder upheld portions of the 2013 law that reduced the number of days people could vote early, eliminated same-day registration and voting, and prohibited people from casting a ballot outside their precinct.

The good news is the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has expedited the hearing of the NC NAACP’s appeal of Schroeder’s dismissal. The first day of the hearing will be June 21, and the state NAACP will have a mobilizing effort focused on that date. For more details check in regularly with Asheville-Buncombe NAACP and/or the Mountain People’s Assembly on Facebook.

Join the Asheville-Buncombe Branch NAACP for our regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, June 14 at 6:30 in the Fellowship Hall of Hill Street Baptist Church. Enter from the rear parking lot.

Carmen Ramos-Kennedy is the President of the Asheville-Buncombe County NAACP Branch #5363. For questions and membership information, call (828) 255-4453, or send an email to [email protected]. Asheville Buncombe NAACP, PO Box 2881, Asheville, NC 28802.