The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Sarah Bufkin, NC NAACP - smbufkin@gmail.com or 404.285.3413

Moral Monday Returns to Raleigh Today, June 2 to Stand Up for Environmental and Health Justice

RALEIGH, NC

The North Carolina NAACP and the Forward Together Moral Movement will gather outside the General Assembly for Moral Monday today, June 2 to petition our lawmakers to make a serious commitment to protecting the health of our people and our environment.

"Our General Assembly continues to pass bad policy after bad policy without regard to the people whose health they are damaging," said Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, president of the North Carolina NAACP. "This week, Speaker Thom Tillis, Senate Leader Phil Berger, Gov. Pat McCrory and their extremist colleagues put corporate interests ahead of real people when they rammed through an end to the moratorium on fracking in our state. They put corporate interests ahead of real people when they proposed a budget that takes vital Medicaid support from the elderly and the disabled. We are going back today and we will be back every Monday of this short session until this General Assembly listens to the People's call to repent, repeal and restore confidence in our government."

At Moral Monday, environmental and health care experts, moral leaders and everyday North Carolinians who have been impacted will take the stage to make a strong case for the need to repeal these bad laws and policies.

The Forward Together Moral Movement will call upon the General Assembly to stop denying health care access to 500,000 North Carolinians by expanding Medicaid and to preserve health insurance coverage for thousands more by supporting the Affordable Care Act. We will also stand up for the health of our environment and for the low-income and minority communities that tend to bear the brunt of exposure to toxic pollution by asking our legislators to repeal the "fast-track" fracking bill and to pass a substantial plan for cleaning up coal ash.

Members of the media are invited to a pre-rally press conference at 4 pm in Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, located at 1801 Hillsborough St. After the press conference, we will make our way down to Halifax Mall for the Moral Monday rally and action beginning at 5 pm.

WHO: North Carolina NAACP and the Forward Together Moral Movement

WHAT: Moral Monday

WHEN: 4 pm - Pre-Rally Press Conference

WHERE: Pre-Rally Press Conference
Pullen Memorial Baptist Church
1801 Hillsborough St, Raleigh, NC

Rally and Action
Halifax Mall - Behind the General Assembly
16 West Jones St, Raleigh, NC