Jailed For Justice Tour: Day 1

On Monday we officially kicked  of the Moral Monday Jailed for Justice Tour to a jam packed house at Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church. The whole event was totally electric. Rev Raphael kicked off the event with a truly rousing talk on the need for a moral movement in the south. Senator Vincent Fort, Minister Karen Reagle, Peggy Casey, Emilia Kaiser, and Keota Jones all shared truly powerful stories about why they made the decision to put their bodies and freedom on the line to shine a light on injustice.

Francys Johnson closed out the night with a call to action for folks to support the tour and come together on August 23rd for a massive Moral March on Georgia. The Moral March on Georgia is part of a southern wide strategy to build power against the extreme, economically insane policies that have seen our wages decreased, taken our jobs, seen our homes foreclosed and rent skyrocketed, our children’s education defunded, young black males criminalized and targeted, and our communities less safe.

 Over the course of the next 16 days we will be bringing Georgians together in 16 cities forge relationships and build the Moral movement Georgia needs.

Another Georgia is possible, a Georgia that prioritizes people of politics and profit. Moral Monday Georgia has a different set of priorities.

Our Priorities

Secure pro-labor, anti-poverty policies that ensure economic sustainability

Provide a well-funded, quality public education for all

Promote healthcare access and environmental sustainability

Address continued inequalities in the criminal justice system

Protect and expand voting rights for all

Plug into the tour across the state, see where and when we will be over the next few weeks!

Moral Monday GA Marches on the Money!

Moral Monday GA's 1st march will follow the funds to the Georgia State Capitol that originate from Georgia Pacific where the Koch Brothers operate to finance ALEC backed right-wing attacks that benefit billion dollar industry men at the expense of everyday Georgians.

Monday April 21st

4:30 PM - Rally at Washington St steps of theGA State Capitol

5:00 PM - March to GA Pacific/Koch Industries, 133 Peachtree St NE

5:30 PM - Rally at GA Pacific/Koch Industries

We will demand that all Georgia politicians withdraw their membership and support from ALEC and other Koch Brothers political initiatives that push everyday Georgian citizens out of the political system. We call on them to express their independence from these outside interests and instead represent the people of Georgia as they are required to do.

Civil rights icon John Lewis has expressed his deep support for Moral Monday GA and is joining us for this march as is Reverend Warnock of the Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church.

Rev Warnock stated, "The majority of Georgians want Medicaid expansion. The well connected billionaire Koch brothers do not. If they win, we have an oligarchy and not a democracy. So we seek not only to expand Medicaid but to expand the circle of who has influence and who has a voice. Healthcare for all, one person, one vote. That's our fight and the people's agenda."

Dozens of bills attacking everyday Georgians were passed by the GA State Legislature this year and in years past. We know that there is a concerted well-funded effort developed by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) & Koch Industries that provides the resources to develop these attacks and works to influence politicians like Governor Deal and others in all levels of government to make sure their right-wing agenda is fulfilled.

Georgia is a breeding ground for these outside monied interest attacks on everyday working people.  Nowhere is this more obvious then the refusal to accept Medicaid expansion. Governor Deal has a choice to make; stand with the people of Georgia who want and need Medicaid expansion, or stand with the Koch and ALEC types.

 Moral Monday will continue to pressure the Governor to do the right thing and we will continue to expose the forces that stand in the doorway of 650k hardworking Georgians that deserve health care.

Georgians like Nancy Daniell who stated, " I'm too young for Medicare, I don't qualify for Medicaid since Governor Deal has chosen not to opt in for Medicaid Expansion. Since I live at below national poverty levels of income & have no health insurance, I chose to try to enroll in the Affordable Care Act's health plans;However, since the ACA's plans do not count social security income as a tax exempt status, the most "affordable" health care plan they could offer me would cost approx. 40% of my monthly gross income." Nancy will be one of several speakers negatively affected by the extreme attack on everyday Georgians.

Jackie Rodriguez, who also falls into the Medicaid gap stated, "Governor Deal and other Georgia politicians would rather take special interest money to pass harmful legislation than take federal money to help 650k fellow Georgians like me."

American Friends Service Committee is a convener of the Moral Monday Georgia movement and is excited to be a part of such a broad historic coalition with over 50 organizations and dozens of church congregations. 

Moral Monday's Big Plans For The Governor's Mansion

The 2014 legislative session in Georgia saw some of the most extreme regressive legislation seen in a generation and included attacks on the poor, women’s rights, immigrants, the working uninsured, voting rights, victims of gun violence, people of color, and public education among others. Numerous bills that will turn the clock back in Georgia are now awaiting Governor Nathan Deal's signature in order to become law.

On Monday March 31, community groups, faith leaders, American Friends Service Committee,NAACP Georgia, Atlanta Jobs With Justice, and concerned Georgians will come together under the banner of Moral Mondays to plan out their response.  A rally is being organized at the Governor's mansion on April 7, urging him to veto the immoral legislation. The group has also launched a petition calling on Governor Deal to veto HB 990 and expand Medicaid in Georgia with a goal of reaching 65,000 signatures (10% of the number of Georgians who would be eligible for healthcare under the expansion) and plan to deliver the petition to the Governor at the demonstration.

Reverend Raphael Warnock of historic Ebenezer Baptist Church will be present at the meeting on Monday and plans to give a brief welcoming. Reverend Warnock, who was recently arrested at the Capitol for protesting the Governor's refusal to expand Medicaid, was quoted as saying "It is no exaggeration to say that we are here on a matter of life and death." As many as 10 Georgians die each day from a lack of access to healthcare.

With the stakes so high, and with Georgians increasingly supporting Medicaid expansion, plans have been made across the state this week to collect signatures in churches, on campuses, at events, and door-to-door in neighborhoods in order to reach the ambitious goal of 65,000 signatures by April 7.

Ronnie Mosley, a Morehouse student who plans to collect signatures on campus this week said, "It's gonna take a lot of work, but we believe we can meet our goal. People are tired of elected officials putting politics before what is best for our state. Most Georgians want the expansion, so we're committed to getting these signatures and sending a clear message to Governor Deal that he can't ignore our voices forever."

An online version of the petition can be found by clicking here.

Moral Monday Brings National Spotlight To Georgia

So it’s been an extremely eventful few weeks The Atlanta Economic Justice Program of the American Friends Service Committee was one of several organizations that made the initial call to organize Moral Monday Georgia and we’ve been a convener during the ongoing process. We are really proud to be a part of a really exciting coalition in Georgia!

In what has been called on of the worst Georgia legislative sessions in 50 years. Moral Monday Georgia's bold action ensured that a powerful spotlight shinned on policy's that basically declare war on the poor, women, working families, people of color, and basically everyone that's not already wealthy.

 There have literally been hundreds, below I'm including a few.

New York Times piece about the budding movement

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/19/us/protest-disrupts-georgia-senate-session-on-bill-to-block-medicaid-expansion.html?_r=0

MSNBC TV piece 

http://www.msnbc.com/melissa-harris-perry/watch/approaching-3rd-world-healthcare-conditions-204216899646

Rachel Maddow piece that focuses on Rev Warnock:

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/watch/outcry-as-state-gop-moves-bad-samaritan-bill-199523395851

Check out some of the coverage here.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/watch/outcry-as-state-gop-moves-bad-samaritan-bill-199523395851

http://www.msnbc.com/all

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/18/georgia-moral-monday-_n_4988411.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

http://clatl.com/freshloaf/archives/2014/03/18/moral-monday-activists-bring-protest-inside-georgia-senate

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/protesters-disrupt-state-senate/nfFwg/

http://www.therepublic.com/w/GA--Georgia-Legislature-Protests

http://www.11alive.com/story/news/politics/2014/03/18/ga-legislative-medicaid-protests/6582659/

http://onlineathens.com/breaking-news/2014-03-19/votes-arrests-over-medicaid-expansion-state-capitol

http://www.wsav.com/story/25017758/senate-approves-bill-to-control-medicaid-expansion-opponents-react

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20140318/NEWS/303189971/reform-update-n-h-may-be-first-of-medicaid-expansion-holdouts-to

http://www.times-herald.com/local/20140319-Legis-obamacare-protests-and-arrests

http://www.thewire.com/politics/2014/03/moral-monday-movement-spreads-across-south-41-arrested-georgia-protests/359333/

http://wabe.org/post/despite-protests-bill-moving-medicaid-expansion-decisions-heads-gov-deal

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/protesters-disrupt-state-senate/nfFwg/

http://www.peachpundit.com/2014/03/19/moral-monday-protesters-arrested-on-legislatures-penultimate-day/

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/police-arrest-and-jail-dozens-after-state-capitol-/nfGQ7/

http://www.wsav.com/story/25009802/georgia-senate-to-soon-vote-on-medicaid-expansion-bill

http://blog.al.com/wire/2014/03/dozens_protest_georgias_refusa.html

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/medicaid-protesters-arrested-state-capitol/nfFw7/

http://www.wsbradio.com/news/news/moral-monday-protestors-arrested-after-disrupting-/nfF2c/

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/19/us/protest-disrupts-georgia-senate-session-on-bill-to-block-medicaid-expansion.html?hpw&rref=us&_r=0

http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=272618

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/3/19/headlines/dozens_arrested_protesting_denial_of_medicaid_expansion_in_georgia

http://www.atlantaprogressivenews.com/interspire/news/2014/03/19/39-arrested-in-moral-monday-protest-for-medicaid-expansion-in-georgia.html

http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/39-arrested-in-Georgia-Statehouse-protests-5329138.php

http://www.macon.com/2014/03/18/2998232/39-arrested-in-georgia-statehouse.html

http://ourfuture.org/20140318/moral-mondays-goes-down-to-georgai

http://www.times-herald.com/local/20140324-third-world2014-03-24T06-26-01

Poor Peoples Day and Dr King's Legacy

Today is a day to reflect on the legacy of Dr. King, and for many in Atlanta it's a day to retrace the great man's foot steps from Peachtree street, down Auburn avenues, all the way to Ebeneezer Baptist Church.

This year I had the extreme honor to March as a dignitary for the second year in a row and speak at the rally at Ebeneezer. Usually AFSC organizes an anti-war contingent in the march but this years mobilizing efforts went toward supporting the efforts of Occupy Our Homes Atlanta in building a large housing justice contingent in the march.

Knowing that I was to speak in the march I spent a great deal of the last few days thinking about what brief comments I might say from the stage. It my be a cliche, but Dr King's work and writing has done more to inspire my work and life direction then anything else.

This week I've been thinking a lot about poor peoples campaign, the last campaign Dr King organized. In November 1967 Dr King and the SCLC organized the campaign to address economic injustice and housing for the poor in the United States, the aim was to rebuild America's cities. The Poor Peoples Campaign didn't just focus on poor black people but addressed all poor people. Dr King labeled the campaign as "phase two" of the civil rights movement- setting goals like gathering activist to lobby Congress for an "Economic Bill of Rights", Dr King also saw an crying need to confront a Congress that demonstrated a hostility toward the poor yet provided an over abundance to the military industrial complex.

Under the "Economic Bill of Rights" the Poor Peoples Campaign asked for the federal government to prioritize helping the poor with an antipoverty package that included housing and a guaranteed annual income.

Martin Luther King Jr wanted to shut down Washington DC. Poor Peoples Campaign was to be the longest running protest in the nations capitol. Dr. King intended to dramatize the suffering of the nations poor by bringing them to the capitol. Poor people would live together on the national mall, between the capitol and the Lincoln memorial- and engage in widespread civil disobedience. King wanted to force the federal government to deal with poverty.

After Kings assassination the King family, along with the SCLC, decided to go on with the campaign to honor King. On May 12th, 1968, the first wave of protesters showed up. One week later Resurrection city was built on the Washington Mall, a settlement of tents and shacks to house protesters. Demonstrators were sent to various federal agencies to protest and spread the message of the campaign. Sadly the campaign lacked the leadership and momentum Kings involvement might have brought.

The combined setbacks of RFK's assassination, and a series of bad press further limited the campaign success. Failing to force a response from lawmakers, the poor peoples campaign closed camp on June 19th 1968.

It should come as no surprise that many veterans of the civil rights saw the Occupy movement as an extension of Dr King's work and legacy.

Back To School Block Party!!

This past weekend historic Ebenezer Baptist Church held their annual Back to School Block Party, and this year we were honored to be a part of it. Our Student Career Alternatives Program(SCAP) gave out buttons, Before You Enlist DVD's, and copies of "It's My Life" to high school and middle school aged students.

Our goal at the block party was to promote exciting under promoted non-military post high school career options, plug youth into our free services(SAT classes and career counseling), and connect youth with all the fun events SCAP has planned for the fall.

The vibe was festive and fun with face painting, dancing, music, delicious food, and lots of free stuff from all the vendors.

Our booth was really popular, and we had a ton of folks stop by and ask for a quick explanation for what are table was all about. I found myself say, "We're here to promote really cool under promoted alternative careers, we believe that young folks shouldn't have to participate in systems of violence and oppression in order get get cash for college".

The event was really uplifting and we're excited to explore new opportunities to work with Ebenezer Baptist Church!


Tim Franzen
American Friends Service Committee