Poor People’s Campaign Continues in North Carolina Ahead of National Rally

For the fifth week in a row, citizens involved with the Poor People’s Campaign were arrested at North Carolina’s legislative building last week. Participants gathered in the building to disrupt a Senate meeting while some sat in House Speaker Tim Moore’s office to protest. Others stayed out in the street, holding signs and calling for change.

And it is all expected to happen once again today.

It’s all part of the Poor People’s Campaign’s 40-day call for “moral action” from legislators. Based off the teachings and efforts of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., it’s a coordinated movement advocating for moral public policy and the rights of underprivileged people, according to supporters.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP president Anna Richards said King’s reasoning behind the original Poor People’s Campaign still exists today.

“What that [purpose] was really recognition of the economic freedoms that had not been gained at that time and where many people still lag behind today,” said Richards. “So the idea for this, at the 50th anniversary of the Poor People’s Campaign, was to reignite a movement around economic issues.”

This revival of the movement is being led by a prominent North Carolinian. Reverend Dr. William Barber is the co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, taking his peaceful protesting methods to a national level. Barber served as the president of North Carolina’s NAACP for 12 years and gained recognition for his ‘Moral Mondays’ of civil disobedience and protest. He was thrust into the national spotlight once again after he gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2016.

The Poor People’s Campaign’s actions are built on those Moral Monday demonstrations. For weeks, participants nationwide have protested at legislative buildings on Mondays, asking for “moral” public policy agendas. Barber himself was in Washington D.C. last week and was reportedly arrested for praying outside the Supreme Court.

As Richards described, there is a different emphasis each protest.

“Each week there’s a different theme,” she said. “Monday’s theme was really on the issues of poverty and labor. These weekly emphases are culminating with the major Poor People’s Campaign March in Washington D.C. on Saturday, June 23.”

Before the march caps off the 40-day movement, the sixth Monday of protests will be held. Its theme is ‘Confronting the Distorted Moral Narrative.’ If last week is any indication, more arrests can be expected in North Carolina and across the country.