Jailed for Justice Tour: Day 9, Savannah

An interesting thing happened on the way to Savannah, two of our arrestees decided to take a stand again. This time it wasn’t at the state capital or the governor’s mansion, it was instead it was in the neighborhood we were coming to visit for stop #9 of the Jailed for Justice Tour. Stop 9 in Savannah was by far our most eventful location! As two of our arrestees drove into town they identified a very apparently problem right in this neighborhood. We heard from Marcus Coleman and Joe Beasley who spoke about an injustice happening mere feet from where we had stood.    

As they had come into town they stopped by a local convenience store and were incensed at what they found. A sign propped up outside, a supposed deterrent to shoplifting, in which lamented the owner’s struggles with shoplifting and the effect it has on his livelihood. There was not an objection to the owner trying to protect his business; there was however an objection to the manner in which this was conveyed to the community. For you see this owner’s sign also included a picture of a young black man behind bars.

Arrestee Marcus Coleman delivered an impassioned speech to the audience, “How can you go in there, and shop there, and let that be the message that is being sent to your neighborhood?” As he went on you could see the passion in his face and hear it in his voice. “Our young men need to know they are more than that, they can be more than that; they have to stop seeing these types of messages every day. A message that says you’re going to be nothing, you are going to fail.” Speaking to an audience and a group of younger children he spoke of the fact that in American 1 in 3 black men will go to prison in their lifetime.

This seems to, unfortunately, fit right into some of the main concerns of Moral Monday. A concern that stems from a for profit prison system that makes their business off of incarceration, mostly the incarceration of young men of color and the poor. How can we live in a state where the prisons are being expanded and the state is guaranteeing they will fill those extra beds? What motivation is there for our society to rehabilitate these men and women and help them transition back into society?

 As brother Coleman pumped up the audience an amazing thing happened. Right there and then we were able to facilitate a positive change in the neighborhood. The owner of the store came out and apologized and pledged to remove the sign. They shook hands we were able to make an instant and positive change just by coming together and confronting a wrong. That is what Moral Monday is all about. This is about uniting together for a common cause, to stand up in the face of things that are wrong and say we aren’t going to tolerate it. Today Savannah took their stand, their first Moral Monday action was to send a more positive visual message to their neighborhood! 

Jackie Rodriguez, Guest Blogger, AFSC Community Organizing Intern

Moral Monday Arrestees Speak Out

Over the course of Georgia's 2014 legislative session the American Friends Service Committee has been excited to be able to play a leadership role in launching Georgia's Moral Monday movement. We were all inspired by North Carolina last year and as 2014 approached many had come to believe that the Moral Monday model could be an effective southern strategy.

Since Georgia's 2014 session began there have been a number of Moral Monday Georgia actions at the State Capitol. Over the course of two of those actions over 30 Moral Monday Georgia coalition members participated in very principled nonviolent civil disobedience. 

On Monday February 17th arrestees gathered together to speak out about why they felt moved to put their freedoms on the line. Below is their collective statement along with some video footage:

"We are young, we are old, we are black, we are white, we are gay, we are straight, we are men, and we are women. Many of us are very religious, some are not.  As a group we are not aligned with one political party. We have many differences, we are people who would normally not mix, but there is something that has brought as all together for a cause we believe so deeply in that we have been willing to put our freedoms on the line.

We believe that Georgia has been high jacked by an extreme radical agenda that our state simple can no longer afford. Year after year we see a budget and tax code the benefits a few at a cost to everyone else. We see the standard of living going down for the overwhelming majority for the benefit of those that already have too much. We see the majority of our state’s politicians acting in the interest of big business to the detriment of everyday Georgians.

So we have come together to build a Moral Movement in our state, to remind our elected officials who they are accountable to. We believe our state budget is a Moral document, and that all Georgians should benefit from our state's prosperity, not just the rich. We are in a crisis of economic priority, not one of economic resource; we know there is enough to go around.

So far over 30 of us have been willing to put our freedom and public records on the line to bring attention to this extreme radical agenda.

On January 27^th 10 members of the Moral Monday Georgia Coalition refused to leave Govenor Deal’s office until he expanded Medicaid to Georgians, a move that would bring health care to an estimated 600,000+ uninsured Georgians and 70k good paying jobs to our state at no cost initially. Ironically struggling Georgians pay for people all over the country to have these benefits yet we are denied do to our Govenor’s ideological stubbornness.

On Monday February 10^th 24 of us held a sit in State Senator Jesse Stone’s  office because he refused to move forward SB280, which would repeal Georgia’s Stand Your Ground law, a law that has a proven track record in making our state less safe, and has come to represent the legalization of modern day lynching.

We have risked our freedom because we believe that everyday Georgians are worth fighting for, we believe our standard of living should be on the rise, not decline, we believe there’s enough to go around, we believe that the least of these is worth fighting for, we believe that a Georgia that prioritizes education, health care, women's rights, LGBT rights, good jobs with fair wages, fair housing practices,racial justice, and environmental justice is possible and worth fighting for."