By Jordan Meadows
Staff Writer
In a continuation of a growing national movement for justice and equity, the Moral Monday Movement, led by Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II and Repairers of the Breach, launched a coordinated wave of protests across 12 Southern states this August.
Known as “A Southern Call to Conscience,” these actions aim to hold lawmakers accountable for supporting what organizers are calling the “Big, Bad, Ugly, Deadly, Destructive Budget Bill”—the federal spending plan passed in July 2025 that cuts programs such as Medicaid, SNAP, and rural healthcare, while preserving tax breaks and military increases.
Rev. Barber, who also led a major “Moral Monday” rally and march in Washington, D.C. this past June, denouncing the Republicans’ trillion-dollar “Big Beautiful Bill,” said the stakes couldn’t be higher.
“This is a moral emergency, not a partisan squabble. If Congress will not listen in Washington, we will bring the cries of the people straight to their hometowns, face to face. Lawmakers must reckon with the moral consequences of their choices — not behind closed doors in D.C., but right here among their constituents.”
According to public health researchers cited by the movement, over 800 people die every day from poverty, and the budget cuts are expected to lead to an additional 51,000 deaths annually, especially among children, seniors, rural populations, and people with disabilities.
“Today, we gather because of a single piece of legislation, the so-called ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill Act’ dares to call cruelty 'beautiful'. Beautiful for whom? Certainly not for our children, our elders, for the millions of neighbors who live in, will be wounded.”
Moral Monday organizers describe this moment as part of a Third Reconstruction, following in the historical footsteps of the First and Second Reconstructions, and rooted in Moral Fusion Organizing that unites people across lines of race, faith, and class to demand justice.
One of the most striking examples of this protest movement took place in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Monday Morning for a traditional ‘Moral Mondays’ event, where activists rallied against what they deemed wealth redistribution from the poor to the rich, and delivered a casket to the office of Senator Ted Budd. The casket represented the thousands of North Carolinians — including an estimated 307,000 who are expected to lose Medicaid coverage — whose lives hang in the balance. The action was led by local clergy, low-wage workers, and families directly affected by Medicaid and SNAP cuts. Organizers called on Senator Budd to take responsibility for the life-threatening consequences of the budget bill he supported.
Pastor Joel Simpson of First United Methodist Church in Taylorsville spoke about the personal stories behind those numbers:
“I’ve talked with people whose parents are in nursing homes, parents who are caring for children, and aging parents at home. I’ve spoken with a former law enforcement officer who is now on disability and depends on Medicaid and SNAP, while also caring for aging parents. This budget is a massive harm to poor and low-income people all around NC.”
Rev. Stephens of the Poor People’s Campaign added:
“We’re not just here to protest—we’re here to change the narrative. This isn’t about left or right. It’s about right and wrong,” Stephens continued, ““And all the while here in North Carolina, they're leading us into a budget crisis and a permanent budget shortfall. The Senate, I would say they has its head in the sand, but I think they know exactly what they're doing.”
The Southern wave of protests builds on the long history of Moral Monday activism in North Carolina, which re-emerged last December 2024, when hundreds gathered outside the state Capitol to oppose Senate Bill 382 — legislation described by critics as a partisan “power grab” due to its sweeping transfer of political authority from Democrats to Republicans.
Moral Mondays are supported by a broad coalition of national faith-based and justice organizations, including Indivisible, the National Urban League, Masjid Muhammad, the National Council of Churches, the National Council of Jewish Women, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the AME Zion Church, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Presbyterian Church USA, the United Church of Christ, the Ohio and North Carolina Councils of Churches, Red Letter Christians, Franciscan Action Network, OBRA Hispana, Hood Theological Seminary, Neighborhood Folks, Foundry United Methodist Church, and Sojourners.
The Moral Monday Movement is gaining momentum across the South, and its leaders are determined to keep the pressure on until federal lawmakers abandon policies that condemn the poor to suffer and die.
