By: Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
From Friday, Sept. 20th to Sunday, Sept. 29th, they will walk across the state of North Carolina, from the mountains of the Cullowhee to the coast of Wilmington, picking up like-minded social justice leaders along way to dramatize the importance of voting, community organizing, grassroots activism and the arts.
They call it “the Long March for Unity and Justice.”
Sponsored by the BCC (Beloved Community Center) in Greensboro, which is co-executive directed byJoyce Hobson Johnson and Rev. Nelson Johnson , the objectives of the Long March are to grow and make visible the urgent need to join with others to build a powerful statewide transformative movement for truth, justice, healing and reconciliation that not only impacts North Carolina, but the nation; to heal deep divisions and growing wounds from the past; to uplift issues that connect communities; mobilize communities to promote voter education and actively increase civic engagement; and forge the people’s power and transform oppressive systems and structures.
We must address our nation’s crossroads: either continue toward authoritarianism or expand democracy with greater freedom and wealth distribution,” said Rev. Johnson.
The mission of the Long March for Unity and Justice is to create a compassionate and more just North Carolina that responds to the needs of environmental justice, women’s rights, reproductive justice, youth and students, racial and social justice, faith and religious inclusivity, gender and LGBTQ equality, worker and labor rights, immigrant justice and disability justice.
The Long March will begin from Cullowhee in Jackson County with a rally on Day One (Sept. 20th), followed by a second rally in Asheville in Buncombe County. On Day Two (Sept. 21st) the Long March goes to Boone in Watauga County.
On Day Three (Sept. 22), the Long March heads to Charlotte in Mecklenburg County with march start at 4 p.m. from 1600 West Trade Street, and rally site at 6 p.m. at 1729 Griers Grove Road.
Day Four (Sept. 23) will see Greensboro in Guilford County and the BCC at 417 Arlington Street. Day Five (Tuesday, Sept. 24), the Long March arrives in Durham in Durham County and Raleigh in Wake County. Day Six (Weds, Sept. 25th) the Long March arrives in Gaston County and Roanoke Rapids in Halifax County.
Day Seven (Thursday, Sept. 26th) the Long March arrives in Greenville in Pitt County. Day Eight (Friday, Sept. 27th), the Long March goes to Fayetteville in Cumberland County. Day Nine (Saturday, Sept. 28) the penultimate Long March stop is in Laurinburg in Scotland County.
And on the final day of the Long March, Day Ten (Sunday, Sept. 28), Wilmington in New Hanover County.
The Long March is supported by the NC Black Alliance, NC Council of Churches, Black Workers for Justice, Blueprint NC, Forward Justice, Down Home NC, Freedom Center, Red, Wine & Blue, Poor People’s Campaign, Second Chance Alliance, Union of Southern Service Workers, People’s Power Coalition, Justice Served NC, Southern Vision Alliance, and NC BLOC, and fosters unity and collaboration through the We The People Unity Covenant.
The BCC previously led the nation’s first Truth and Reconciliation Process to disclose the truth related to the November 3, 1979, Greensboro Massacre - that the police on that day, by deliberately being absent, allowed the Ku Klux Klan to attack community protesters.
That process led to a formal apology from the Greensboro City Council in 2020.
