Hundred of citizens gathered in downtown Wilmington’s Riverfront Park, carrying signs bearing messages such as “Patients over politics,” “Let the people vote” and “You work for us,” during the first Moral Monday rally held in Wilmington Sept. 15.
Marva Robinson, who stood near the steps of the New Hanover County Historic Courthouse with fellow members of the Wilmington Alumnae Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., said rallying together was the most effective way to communicate a message to the legislators in Raleigh.
“Sometimes when one person just voices their discontent it may not hit well, but when loads of people all over the state … then you get the idea of fellowship, that we are not alone,” Robinson said. “It’s got to echo not only in North Carolina but across the nation. We will not go down quietly.”
As the crowd continued to grow, guest speakers took turns speaking about a variety of issues including education, healthcare, quality, environmental and economic injustice and the film incentives program.
“What is happening more and more is that the liberty that was guaranteed to us as an inalienable right has not become available for everyone but it has become a privilege that can be bought,” Dr. Jorge Figueroa said during his speech about the need for more affordable healthcare.
While several groups targeted a certain issue, many people, like Anne York, simply came out to support equal rights and fight injustice in general.
“We think that all of these issues that we address have to do with love and morality,” she said. “I’ve been to a bunch of moral Mondays in Raleigh, and I’m just so glad we’re finally having one here in Wilmington so more people can come here and get inspired.”
Rev. Dr. William Barber, president of the North Carolina NAACP, took the stage last and spoke passionately about each of the issues.
“We believe in strong schools, we believe in mercy for the poor, we believe in economic fairness and common sense, we believe in treating all people as our neighbors, we believe in greater access to the ballet for all people,” Barber said as the crowd cheered.
Every guest speaker encouraged protestors to vote in the coming election to appoint a legislature that would help bring about the change they desired.
“It’s a moral march to the polls,” Rev. Barber said after the rally. “We have protested, we have shifted the center of gravity … and now it’s time to march to the polls. Whether we win anything or not, make your voice heard. This movement was there even when Democrats were in office. We believe that you must keep the pressure on the government.”
Deborah Dicks Maxwell, president of the New Hanover County branch of the NAACP, added, “People will learn to advocate and let their vote be their voice. That’s a big part of the rally, to educate the voters about what has been denied them by the current legislature. Look at our film industry as a prime example.”
At the end of his speech, Rev. Barber asked every person at the rally to join hands with the person on either side of them.
“Let’s hold hands together,” he said. “Black and white, young and old, Democrat, Republican, gay and straight, whoever we are, because we are the people who believe that change will, and must, come.”
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