Triad Residents Choose Civil Disobedience

A growing number of Triad residents are joining the civil disobedience protest, Moral Monday. 

On May 30, about 40 people met at New Light Baptist Church on Willow Road in Greensboro. They listened to stories from other protestors who have been a part of the demonstrations inside the North Carolina State Legislative Building.  June 3 will be the fifth Monday of this peaceful demonstration in Raleigh.

Reverend Nelson Johnson is the executive director of the Beloved Community Center in Greensboro and is a member of the executive committee of the Greensboro NAACP.  He says many people are upset over proposed legislation regarding taxes, education and health care funding, welfare cuts and environmental deregulation. “This is raising the knowledge level of the entire population. It's also raising the ethical level, saying we're social beings and we are related to each other,” says Johnson. “This movement will change the balance of forces that will result in a change in laws and in a change of ethical and moral values.”

On June 3 around three, protestors will gather at Martin Street Baptist Church on Martin Street in Raleigh. That's when people will get instructions on how to conduct themselves if they want to be arrested for civil disobedience inside the General Assembly Building. Tara Blomquist from Jamestown plans to volunteer, and says this will be the first time she's been arrested. “I want to be a part of this movement because I'm outraged at what's going on in our state capitol,” explains Blomquist. “This is a progressive state. It has a history of progressive values and I hate to see that eroded the way it is now. And I feel the only I can do is to put my body on the line.”

So far, about 160 people have been arrested during the Moral Monday protests. The North Carolina chapter of the NAACP is identifying attorneys willing to volunteer their services in representing arrested protestors at their court hearings.