By: Jordan Meadows
Staff Writer
In cities across North Carolina, the Moral Monday movement roared back to life on Monday as clergy, low-wage workers, impacted families, and justice advocates gathered for mass prayer vigils to protest what they call a "violent and immoral" legislative assault on the poor.
Led by Bishop William J. Barber II and organized by Repairers of the Breach, the coordinated actions took place outside the offices of congressional representatives in Raleigh, Greensboro, Hickory, Boone, Cornelius, and Wilmington. In Raleigh, demonstrators gathered in front of Senator Ted Budd’s office on Fayetteville Street.
At the heart of the protest were urgent concerns: deep cuts to healthcare protections, delayed paychecks due to the government shutdown, and the ramping up of detention and deportation efforts that are sowing fear in immigrant communities.
“This is not just an attack on Black folk. This is not just an attack on poor folk. This is an attack on everybody,” declared Bishop Barber, citing Medicaid enrollment figures. “When you talk about Medicaid enrollees in North Carolina, 709,000 are white…543,000 are Black…322,000 are Latino…190,000 are mixed.”
Many of the cuts in Medicaid referenced throughout the event dealt with the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act”. Chiquita Stenson, a mother of six from Wake County, delivered a plea to lawmakers:
“Senator, what did you expect to gain from voting for this bill?” she asked. “In this day and age, where the rich get richer, you’re working on ways to keep the poor stagnant.”
Participants also highlighted the human cost of the federal government’s partial shutdown, which has delayed pay for thousands and strained essential programs that serve the elderly, disabled, and low-income families.
This week’s moral actions are part of a broader national movement throughout October, rooted in a tradition of Moral Fusion Organizing that traces back to the First and Second Reconstructions. Today’s organizers see themselves as the foundation of a Third Reconstruction—a growing force that demands economic justice, racial equity, and human dignity for all.
Bishop Barber announced plans for a massive “old-style” Moral Monday March in Raleigh this February, recalling the 2014 protests that drew more than 100,000 people.
“We think we can do even better now,” Barber said.
