RALEIGH –  The NC NAACP and other activists will gather in Raleigh for the 7th Moral Monday protest, set to take place outside the General Assembly at 5 p.m.

NAACP state chapter president and protest leader Reverend William Barber announced the rally will focus on environmental and health care issues. Despite a tornado watch and heavy rains, clergy members from across the state led last week’s protest.

“A win is Moral Monday, everywhere in this state and across this nation, getting attention and raising awareness for the issues being raised,” Barber said. “Recent polls show that the legislature’s popularity is down 25 percent. That’s because North Carolinians did not elect people for this. Nobody will tell you that they elected someone to take their Medicaid. They got snookered.”

The group’s demonstrations against policies of the Republican-controlled legislature have grown in size every week since the movement’s birth in late April. One Moral Monday drew more than 1,600 by some estimates. The number of arrests now totals more than 300.

Witness Wednesday, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the assassination of civil rights activist, Medgar Evers, also took place last week. Eight people were arrested inside the state building, including Durham City Council member Steve Schewel.

Local leaders in Orange County have been outspoken about their support for the Moral Monday protests. Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton was the first to be arrested at recent rally. Carrboro Aldermen Damon Seils, Michelle Johnson, Sammy Slade, and Chapel Hill Town Council member Donna Bell would follow.

Orange County Commissioners Penny Rich, Mark Dorosin and Bernadette Pelissier have been in attendance of several protests, as well as Chapel Hill Carrboro City School Board of Education members Mia Burroughs and James Barrett.