On Monday, July 26, roughly a hundred people gathered on the sidewalk outside of Thom Tillis’s office in Raleigh for a Moral Monday lead by the Poor People’s Campaign of North Carolina. Those assembled were attempting to raise awareness of, and demand support for, the For The People Act, The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, ending the filibuster, statehood for Washington, DC, and a $15.00/ hour minimum wage.
Allied participating groups included the Forward Justice Law Firm, Fight For 15 NC, The Beloved Community Center of Greensboro, Healthcare Workers for Justice, Tuesdays With Tillis, and the NC NAACP.
The For The People Act comes in response to voter suppression legislation, much like the “Monster Voter ID Law” that Senator helped write in 2012 in his capacity as Speaker of The House in NC and as ALEC’s (American Legislative Exchange Council) point person in the North Carolina General Assembly, are proliferating in state legislatures across the country.
An attempt by Tuesday’s With Tillis organizer Karen Zeigler to deliver a petition in support of the For The People Act was rebuffed at the front door but the struggle for the defense of voting rights, for equal protection under the law, and for a living wage has just begun.
Text and photos by Kevin A Smith