Georgia Law Enforcement Reform Package Introduced

Yesterday American Friends Service Committee joined Senator Vincent Fort, The Moral Monday Georgia Movement, the Davis/Bozeman Law Firm, Georgia WAND, Georgia NAACP, and the Coalition for the Peoples Agenda to introduce the Georgia Law EnforcementReform Package.

 

We believe that all deserve to be treated equally in the eyes of the law. We are troubled that black and brown Georgians continue to experience police brutality, mass incarceration, racial profiling, and excessive police tactics at an alarmingly higher rate than white Georgians.

Just this past year in Habersham, Georgia law enforcement used a “No Knock” warrant to storm an innocent family’s dwelling and in the process tossed a concussion grenade into Baby Bounkham "Bou Bou" Phonesavanh crib. This ended up almost claiming the baby’s life, blowing his face off.

In 2006 police used a “No Knock” warrant to break down the door of 92-yearold Atlanta resident Kathryn Jonhston and fired 39 shots at her, killing her. Later they planted drugs on her to justify the horrendous act.

Our communities don’t need urban tanks and other military equipment that are used to seeing in a war zone. We believe the mere presence and training that come with this unnecessary equipment makes our communities less safe and increases potential for human and civil rights violations. When we use military gear and vehicles in certain communities it makes those communities feel like they are under occupation, when we treat community members like war combatants we move farther away from the Beloved community Dr King spoke of and closer to the nightmare her preached about in 1967 when we articulated what he called the giant triplets of evil; Militarism, Racism, and Poverty.

 

This legislative session a broad Law Enforcement Reform Package is being introduced by a diverse group of Georgia law makers. We call on members of the Georgia House and Senate to pass all the bills. We believe this package will make Georgians safer, reduce the number of lawsuits for taxpayers, and reduce the amount of unnecessary equipment (like urban tanks) and the cost to taxpayers associated with them. Institutional racism and the troubling trend toward a militarized police state runs deep and will not be solved overnight; we believe these bills are a step in the right direction.

Below are the bills that make up the Georgia Law Enforcement Reform Package:

 

SB 45 (Fort, 39th) – “Bou Bou’s Law ”

This legislation would restrict no-knock warrants to situations where the affidavit or testimony supporting the warrant establishes by probable cause that if an officer were to knock and announce identity and purpose before entry, such act of knocking and announcing would likely pose a significant and imminent danger to human life or imminent danger of evidence being destroyed.

 

SB 46 (Fort, 39th) – Police Body Cameras

This legislation would require all police departments’ officers with wearable cameras by 2017.  It would also instruct the Department of Public Safety to create procedures for grants to small or underfunded police departments, subject to funding. 

 

SB 47 (Fort, 39th) – Hate Crimes

This legislation would increase criminal penalties for crimes committed against an individual intentionally selected because of such individual's race, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or national origin.  Increased penalties would mimic the increased penalties for crimes against senior citizens. 

 

SB 48 (Fort, 39th) – No Guns for Violent Felons

Prohibit restoration of gun rights to convicted felons who had been convicted of violent crimes, sexual offenses, or crimes involving firearms

 

SB 49 (Fort, 39th) – Stand Your Ground Repeal

Repeal Georgia’s Stand Your Ground law

 

SB 50 (Fort, 39th) – Special Prosecutor for Police Cases

This legislation would require the appointment of a special prosecutor for cases when a police officer is the suspect

 

Pending Bills

*Police demilitarization

*Require police to report civilian deaths to GBI

 

 

The Moral Monday Georgia Movement will be mobilizing people from around the state to come together at the Capitol to support the Package, click here for details.

 

Please sign and share the online petition by clicking here.

Jailed For Justice Tour: Day 12, Macon

We where greeted with a news crew interested in covering the story of the Moral Monday movement spreading to Macon Georgia, which was a great start to an eventful evening on our 12th city on the Jailed for Justice tour. The panel of Moral Monday Georgia arrestees was once again beautiful and truly inspiring, one highlight was civil rights veteran Rev Fred Taylor, who has been arrested 28 times! Rev Taylor talked about the spiritual aspects of committing his body to civil disobedience and his willingness to endure the consequences in order to bring about real social change.

The highlight of the evening for many was the community discussion about issue folks in Macon would like to take on and what a Moral Monday coalition would look like in Macon. Many issues were touched on but the one that seemed to be on folks mind was the extreme inequalities in the criminal justice system and the targeting of young black males in the Macon area. Tales of roadblocks on Thanksgiving and communities losing their sons to the prison industrial complex were far to common in the crowd. Folks were clear the Macon needs and wants a Moral movement that is both locally strong and connected through out the State of Georgia.

Several in attendance committed to help organize local Moral Monday Macon meeting and organize transportation to the August 23rd Moral March on Georgia.

After the event the NAACP hosted a lovely reception for all who attended. It was another lovely evening, we are truly exciting to continue to build relationships with local organizers in the Macon area. A statewide movement isn't truly statewide without the heart of Georgia; Macon!

Jailed for Justice Tour: Day 10, Brunswick

Brunswick is fired up! Probably the best community conversation we have had, Brunswick was a lively crowd that wasn't afraid to share their hopes for a better neighborhood. Brunswick is affected by a myriad of issues; in fact, they are a microcosm of the all of the issues affecting the entire state. Lack of jobs, affordable housing, poverty, and increasing victimization by the for-profit prison system, and environmental violence are not just systemic issues we face as an entire state and nation, these are the issues that the people of Brunswick live with every day.       

It was encouraging to hear the Mayor of Brunswick address the crown on stop #10 of the Jailed for Justice Tour. He spoke about addressing the concerns of the citizens and banning together to make improvements in the city. During our community conversation attendees pledged to work closely with the Mayor to get their issues addressed, such as getting the roads fixed and addressing safety concerns. This is the type of head on problem solving that we will need in order to build and live in the types of communities that we strive for. Being part of that process and seeing it unfold in front of you really gives me a sense of hope that this can spread all over the state, to every town in Georgia.

I could see this feeling spreading throughout Brunswick because despite facing these challenges the people of Brunswick still turned out fired up for Moral Monday. They were fired up for a chance to try anything that provided hope for something a better.  A stronger path to justice will be built by working hand in hand with our progressive partners within our own communities and Brunswick is ready to make that happen!  During our community conversation there were so many great comments but one in particular stood out to me. In response to another participants comments the man said, “These people [Moral Monday] have brought some hope to Brunswick. They have brought the hope that if we work together we can make something bigger happen, something bigger for justice that we wouldn't have been able to do alone.” I would consider it a huge win if just a few people left with that

feeling from each of our stops.

Looking back at stop #10 in Brunswick, it was yet another example of the power of the people. When we unite for change we are unstoppable. Going stop to stop and seeing the excitement of my fellow Georgians to make change happen has only cemented this to be true for me. I look forward to seeing the continued work and positive changes that Brunswick is making happen. We are building our future, and a better state, TOGETHER.   

Jackie Rodriguez, Guest Blogger, AFSC Community Organizing Intern

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

Jailed for Justice Tour: Day 8, Statesboro

On Stop 8 of the Jailed for Justice Tour we visited Statesboro and were greeted with a warm welcome! Located in the hometown of NAACP President, Dr. Johnson, for stop 8 of our tour the people of Statesboro turned out to hear from a diverse group of speakers discussing their experience being jailed for justice. We spoke about Medicaid expansion, we spoke about the need to repeal stand your ground, but most importantly we spoke about the need to ban together and fight injustice.

As we gathered on the front steps of the Bulloch County Courthouse it was a fitting place to gather to speak about fighting injustice.  We were standing mere feet away from the location of the last lynching in Georgia. Carried out in the court yard this atrocity did not occur in the 20s, 30s, or 40s, no this was carried out in Georgia in the 1960s. I have to admit that when I heard that my mouth dropped open. I had expected to hear that this had occurred long ago, but the truth is our past is more recent then we might like to think.

So we gathered in this place of great injustice to speak about seeking out the justice we know every Georgian deserves. We speak often of our diverse coalition and that was clearly evident in Statesboro. We met an amazing group of young people with the NAACP who have been working in their communities to make Georgia a place of justice. We heard from many people, old and young, black and white, but we all shared the same message. We will not, cannot, and should not stand for the racist, extremist policies that are spreading around our nation. We demand to live in a place where all of our citizens are respected and can live with dignity. Today, we met the people of Statesboro who will make this a reality.

The Statesboro stop holds a special place for me on the tour. I had the privilege of speaking along side my fellow arrestees and spoke about my motivation for taking a stand against the racist stand your ground laws that exist. Despite the tough and serious decision I made to participate in the movement by taking an arrest my motivation was very easy to identify. No mother should raise and love a child only to have to worry every time they walk out the door they might not return because of the color of their skin. After I shared that message and the tour had concluded I was approached by a member of the audience. She said, “Thank you, thank you for standing up for me, thank you for standing up for my sons. As a mother of two African American boys I am afraid for them.”  

Hearing those kind words really touched me and cemented why I have decide to subject myself to arrest this year. No mother should have to raise her child in this nation and have to be afraid. This is bigger than you and me, it is about recognizing an injustice and taking a stand against it. That is what is so powerful about Moral Monday. It is a chance for us to unite and work together towards our common goals for justice and peace. Statesboro left quite an impression on me; I hope Moral Monday left an impression on Statesboro!

-Jackie Rodriguez, Guest Blogger, AFSC Community Organizing Intern

Jailed For Justice Tour: Day 7, Augusta

Wow, what an eventful day we had in Augusta Georgia! Big thanks to the Augusta NAACP and Antioch Missionary Baptist Church for organizing our stop. It was immediately clear that organizers put a lot of energy into putting our tour stop together and lifting up the Moral Monday Georgia Movement. There were too many faith leaders and elected officials to count. Many of us were excited to be able to engage with such a politically diverse group of folks on the issue of civil disobedience as a tool for social change in our modern times.

It was also really exciting to hear what community leaders who hadn't yet engaged with Moral Monday thought about the Moral Monday movement. One of our goals of the tour has been to forge the relationships we need to create the statewide movement that Georgia needs to turn the tide against the extremist, economically insane agenda that continues to privilege a few at the cost of everyone else.

Peggy Marx, Greg Aims, Jackie Rodriguez, and Rev Francys Johnson all gave amazing testimony highlighting the reason why they engaged in civil disobedience and why the time is now to go all in for regular everyday Georgians who continue to suffer under immoral public policy our state.

Another exciting surprise in Augusta was that the Mayors office created and framed an official proclamation stating that August 3rd will hence forth be Moral Monday Jailed for Justice Day! Pretty wild right?

As at each stop we asked folks to commit to joining us August 23rd in Atlanta for the Moral March in Georgia. Almost everyone in the packed church enthusiastically committed to make the trip!

Jailed For Justice Tour: Day 5, Carrollton

I had the privilege of being a speaker in Carrollton for stop five of our Jailed for Justice Tour. I have to admit that I am generally more comfortable working behind the scene, but I knew that it was important that I step outside my normal comfort zone and share my story. If we can stand up and say, I am just like you; this was a hard choice but we were able to do it and you can too. I hope that will inspire someone else to become just a little more involved in building a movement for change. Maybe you cannot take an arrest, but there are lots of ways to support the movement. One thing that I hope sharing these personal stories does is impart to people that we have all become part of something much bigger than our arrest. We have become part of something that has raised our consciousness, raised our voices, and is building a movement.

When I looked around the room, nestled inside the West Georgia University campus, I saw the faces we need to make this movement a success. I saw all races and ages, coming together around the same issue and similar struggles. During the community conversation I saw the fire and passion that we need to make a better Georgia a reality. When we kicked off the program and I heard the local NAACP president speak of their long standing partnership with the local League of Women Voters I could not have been more thrilled. That foundation, that relationship, is what we need to build within all of our progressive organizations. That is the fundamental idea that Moral Monday was built upon and it already exists in Carrollton. Now is the time to build on that relationship and expand it within your community.

One thing we like to say about Moral Monday is that it is a call to action, a banner under which to unite for the common good, and that is what has happened over 80 times this year. We have been called to take action, with over 80 arrests, as individuals to create a powerful movement that demands we be heard, that demands we bring attention to injustice, and demands change. On August 23^rd at 10am we will rally at the capital and you will have the chance to join in this fight, to unite your voice as one with us and take a stand for what is right and moral in Georgia. CLICK HERE to join and share the Facebook event.

On August 23rd we are going to stand together, shoulder to shoulder; brothers and sisters of all different races, ages, and gender identities and demand what is rightfully ours. We have the right to a government that represents the people and their interest, not their own self-interest. We have the power to demand change in Georgia but we can only do it with your help. Please CLICK HERE to join and share the Facebook event for our march to demand change!

Jackie Rodriguez

American Friends Service Committee

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!

JAILED FOR JUSTICE TOUR COMES LAUNCHES IN ATLANTA

The Moral Monday Georgia Coalition, the NAACP-led multi-racial, multi-issue advocacy group, will be hosting an event in partnership with HistoricEbenezer Church, American Friends Service Committee and others at EbenezerBaptist Church, 407 Auburn Avenue on Monday July 28th at6:30pm. This event is part of the Jail for Justice Tour, a state-wide, 16 city tour hosting daily events across Georgia from July 28 through August 12^th. These events are intended to bring the group’s message from the capitol to the rest of the state. Each stop will feature a different line-up of three-five Moral Monday GA arrestees who will discuss their choice to go to jail in the pursuit of social justice.

 Tonight's event features Rev Raphael Warnock, NAACP Ga President Francys Johnson, Senator Vincent Fort, Minister Karen Reagle, Peggy Casey, and Keiota Jones all of whom are Moral Monday Arrestees.

The tour aims to bring together Georgians across the state to plant seeds for local actions, register voters, and coalition building during the approaching 2014 election and upcoming legislative session. Rev. Dr. Francys Johnson, NAACP president and Moral Monday arrestee, states, “For far too long, we have let our elected officials ignore the moral implications of their actions and inactions in regards to the most vulnerable among us. It is time to move Georgia forward.”

Modeled on the North Carolina NAACP's Forward Together Movement led by Rev. William Barber, Moral Monday Georgia is broad based coalition of churches, mosques, labor unions, teacher’s organizations and progressive groups. Moral Monday GA is a continuation of North Carolina’s movement to shift Southern politics toward a moral center where civil and human rights are protected and advanced.

During the 2014 Georgia legislative session, Moral Monday brought a national spotlight on the repressive laws being passed by the General Assembly. The movement drew attention to issues from Medicaid expansion and Stand Your Ground laws to reproductive justice and workers’ rights through a series of dynamic actions, including rallies and voter registration as well as mass civil disobedience. The arrestees—72 over the course of the session--came from all generations, backgrounds, races and religions. Elected officials and prominent faith leaders also participated in civil disobedience, acting as moral witnesses against the corrupt actions of the current administration.

 

American Friends Service Committee is really excited to be one of the conveners of the Moral Monday Movement in Georgia and we plan to continue to put effort and resources into building the movement that places priority on:

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

 

For a list of all the tour stops click here.

 

 

 

An Open Letter to Governor Deal

Dear Governor Nathan Deal,

As of last night, at the stroke of midnight, the clock of human progress turned back decades. You have caused unfair, unjust and harmful consequences for regular everyday Georgians with the passage of HB 990, HB 772, HB 714 and SB 98.

Sadly, your inaction has and will continue to cost real lives and hardships for Georgians who are already struggling.  You have chosen politics over principle, a short term view of narrow self-interest over a long term vision of what's actually best for Georgia, making public policy turns that further marginalize our most vulnerable citizens while also crippling the state's prospects for economic recovery and prosperity. 

Your lack of regard and compassion for the 650,000 hard working Georgians who would benefit from Medicaid expansion is very troubling. You have signed death warrants for thousands who will die needlessly every year without it. Out of your office we continued to hear the same justification for not accepting Medicaid expansion; Georgia couldn't afford it. While repeating a lie over and over again might work in your political universe it doesn't make it less of a lie. Medicaid expansion would turn the 650,000 hard working Georgians that are forced to go to the emergency center as their only means to healthcare into paying customers with access to preventative care. It would bring over 45 billion dollars of revenue and over 70,000 good paying jobs to our state.  As it turns out, doing what's morally right is also economically smart.

When we and future generations look back in history, we will see a Governor who failed to understand this.  That is why he restricted affordable healthcare and expanded gun rights, publicly celebrating the most dangerous and irresponsible gun bill to be passed in the country. We will see a Governor who allowed and supported attacks on the rights of women by further limited access to reproductive choice.  A governor, who condoned removing unemployment benefits to the same bus drivers that protected our children during an unnecessary snow crisis. We will see a Governor that supported drug testing of food stamp recipients and continues to place road blocks against the Affordable Care Act. You have continually shown your support for the few rich at the cost of the overwhelming poor and working class Georgians by capping income taxes, and restricting loans and scholarships for our states students.

Georgia deserves better than this Governor Deal. When we look at the past legislative session through a moral lens we see our state's priorities with deep concern. We see a Governor more concerned with

party agendas than the welfare and progress of the people he represents. Although this is of deep concern to us, we are hopeful that moral responsibility will be reflected in the future legislation of Georgia, and we are willing to organize toward that end. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, " We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope."

Reverend Raphael Warnock

Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church

Dr Francys Johnson

NAACP Georgia President

Jackie Rodriguez

Georgia Now President

Tim Franzen

American Friends Service Committee

La’die Mansfield

Global Organizing Institute

Dianne Mathiowetz

Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition

Neil Sardana

Atlanta Jobs With Justice

DeKalb County Court Obstructing Justice In Mark Harris Case?

The Judge presiding over Mark Harris' case is making some questionable demands. Demands like trying to have lawyer Mawuli Davis remove himself representing the Avondale 4!

On Thursday  morning,  "Too Much Truth" radio host, Derrick Boazman will be holding a press conference at the Dekalb County Courthouse alongside American Friends Service Committee, Occupy Our Homes Atlanta, Malcom X Grassroots Movement, and the NAACP DeKalb County to bring those demands to light!

As the press conference began thousands of concerned residents began calling the DeKalb solicitor upset that the judge would consider obstructing such an important case. The Question has been asked, has Fannie Mae played any role in this clear obstruction of justice?

On Monday American Friends Service Committee calls on folks to stand with Desert Storm veteran and home defender Mark Harris and brave attorney Mawuli Davis.

There will be a rally from 8-9am in from of the DekalbCounty Courthouse and then we will pack the courtroom at 9am. AFSC will be bringing several gallons of warm coffee to keep spirits up!

Please sign and share Mark’s online petition!

The Movement Launches in Georgia

After more than four months of long meetings, countless hours devoted to phone calls to organizations all over Georgia, deeper coordination than I’ve ever see between groups that normally don’t mix, visits to over 60 churches, and lots of tasks completed by countless people, the MoralMonday Georgia movement was launched yesterday in the pouring rain.

Many of us were inspired by the Moral Monday movement inNorth Carolina. For the first time since the Occupy movement,  we were seeing folks let go of organizational identity to work under one banner around a number of important issues that all had clear intersections; but Moral Monday was different from the Occupy Movement.

The Occupy Movement never intended to have a clear goal for every action, every march. The Occupy movement forced a much needed spotlight onto wealth disparity; it changed the national conversation, and has brought more awareness to corporate corruption. It certainly can be said that Occupy planted the seeds that eventually landed historic settlements between the big banks and the federal government with more to come, though certainly not enough.

What we saw in North Carolina was different. Although the movement had clear broad aspirations and clear intersections between many issues, it seemed from the get go that Moral Monday intended to directly challenge legislation that hurt people in their state. Every week we heard of a new piece of terrible legislation that they were fighting, and boy did they seem committed. Every week it was another mass demonstration with principled nonviolent civil disobedience, week after week after week. Almost 1000 people were arrested through the course of North Carolina’s legislative session.

By the end of last year what North Carolina had built began to look like what could be a new southern strategy, like one we haven’t seen in my lifetime. It’s highly organized and disciplined, but also very diverse and inclusive, it sees all the issues as connected, but understands strategy and aims to win real victories, the movement seemed media savvy and continued to do what folks least expected, the movement intentionally targeted their state budgets and policies; understanding the organizations like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) have been quietly targeting state houses for decades.

 

In Georgia we were paying attention, some of us even took road trips to North Carolina. Over the summer last year folks from Occupy Our Homes Atlanta lead a campaign to stop Desert Storm Veteran Mark Harris from being evicted from his home at the hands of housing giant Fannie Mae. On Mark’s eviction day dozens of us converged on his property and stood with Mark, refusing to leave until Fannie Mae made a fair deal with Mark.  We set up a camp in Mark’s yard and late into the evening we began to talk about Moral Monday and the Dream Defenders, we talked about the need to build bridges between all the amazing organizing in our city, to build the movement that intersects all our work. It was in that late night that we first began to talk about what the Moral Monday movement would look like in Georgia.

We lost Mark’s home, but the resistance of his wrongful eviction spark the first Moral Monday planning meeting and over the course of the last four months we’ve built an exciting diverse coalition that includes over 50 groups.

Yesterday we launch our first ambition action, the issue of the day; Medicaid expansion. Though there are dozens of policy issues we could have focused on nothing seems more urgent, nothing seems to cut to the core of our state’s crisis of moral priority then our Governors decision to block 650,000 struggling Georgian’s from receiving healthcare and 70,000 good jobs to our state. The cruel irony is that as of January 1^st Georgians are paying for folks all over the country to receive lifesaving healthcare, yet Georgians are refused, per Governor Deal’s decision, the very same healthcare.

 

Yesterday Moral Monday demonstrators have a presence at the Capitol all day. Around 100 people showed up to lobby their representatives on the first day of the legislative session and through many of them were able to talk with the person elected to represent them, most were refused a meeting.

In the early afternoon Central Presbyterian, the church directly across the street from the Capitol, hosted a two hour workshop led by Rev William Baber who’s a leading voice in the movement.

Despite the constant pouring rain 500 people came out in the rain for a rally on the steps of the Capitol. After the crowd heard from clergy, doctors, community leaders, and the uninsured folks that would benefit from Medicaid expansion, a solemn precession was led by faith leaders up the stairs of the capitol. Everyone took their turn to walk to the steps of the capitol and lay down a religious symbol, each symbol represented a Georgian who will die this year because Governor Deal refuses to accept Medicaid expansion.

After a brief tense moment with police, many at the rally chose to join clergy in walking all the way up to the steps and placing their hands on the door of the capitol. The message was clear; this is life or death for Georgians.

The struggle to bring healthcare to Georgians is one the Moral Monday Movement will continue to engage in. Next week Moral MondayCoalition members will march in the MLK March on the 20th, and we will be back at theCapitol January 27th to either celebrate Governor Deal’s decision to do the right thing or escalate the campaign using creative, disciplined nonviolent direct action.

Schooling the System with Spirit!

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Atlanta Student movement, six amazing students from the Atlanta community came forth and spoke out on what inspires, challenges, and changes they would like to see.

Many people came out to show their support and join in on the discussion of hope for the Atlanta student community.

Our very own Caitlin Barrow spoke about her inspiration through Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition's " Eyes Wide Open" event where they display combat boots in honor of the soldiers fallen in the war overseas. She was so touched by this event she became very involved in her own hometown until she moved to Atlanta. Now that she is in Atlanta,she is a founder and leader in the Georgia Progressive Student Alliance, is very involved with SCAP, and is on staff with the American Friends Service Committee.

Another Student from Agnes Scott really touched me. She identified with what she called a "Queer Blacksican". Her mother being an immigrant from Mexico and her father being a black man. She raises awareness of the link between all different types of oppression and how we shouldn't "compete" on who has it worse, but come together, make our numbers stronger, and fight what oppresses us together. I was really inspired by her words. She really stood for "divided we fall, together we stand" and the saying rings true. She also recognized the importance it is to reach out to the people who do not share the same views with us. Representing your cause in an intelligent patient way can get across much better than defensive banter. And you may be surprised on whos views you may change and knowledge you can spread.

The students brought a fresh new hope that was spread into every person in the room.
And I want to thank each college that was represented : Morehouse College,Georgia State University,Agnes Scott College, Spelman College, Emory University, Georgia Tech.
It was such a delight to hear from these inspiring people and I cannot wait to see their passions and actions lead to change in Atlanta.

Haley Murphy
American Friends Service Committee