NAACP: 'Moral Monday' will travel

State NAACP President Rev. William Barber says his group will organize protests in the districts of Republican leaders and lawmakers before returning to Raleigh next month.

Posted 3:53 p.m. Mar 11, 2015 — Updated 4:35 p.m. Mar 11, 2015

Laura Leslie

RALEIGH, N.C. — State NAACP President Rev. William Barber said Wednesday morning that the "Moral Monday" rallies that have marked the last two years at the legislature will return with an advocacy day in April – but they'll be doing some traveling first.

Speaking near the entrance to the Legislative Building, Barber said his group will organize mass meetings and press conferences in the districts of Republican leaders and lawmakers.

"In Selma, (Ala.), they went there because of the challenges, because it was said that they could not win in Selma," Barber said. "So we are going, beginning this Thursday, into the heart of some of the districts of those who oppose us."

The first rally, on Thursday, will be in Cleveland County, the district of House Speaker Tim Moore. The following Mondays will see protests in the districts of Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger in Rockingham County, Rep. Michael Speciale, R-Craven, and Rep. David Lewis, R- Harnett.

Barber said 4,800 low-income people in Cleveland County would be covered by the federal expansion of Medicaid – an expansion to which Moore is opposed. Barber said Rockingham County has a higher rate of poverty than the rest of the state, yet Berger opposes raising the minimum wage.

"It is critical that the people in local communities know exactly how their legislators are hurting them particularly," Barber said.

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