Good morning!
This is the weekly DKos Asheville open thread where we try to get together every Saturday morning around eleven, and then drift in and out throughout the day. We hope this group serves to reinvigorate us locally and regionally here on Daily Kos, building on the sense of community that's grown through our online engagement. DKos Asheville can give us all a better sense of connection, a better understanding of who these people are that we stand with, work with, and share with in the political process. We hope, through this community, that we can do a better job of leveraging our orange passion for progressive politics to help elect more and better Democrats.
If you would like to host a weekly open thread, please let us know.
Our next meetup is Saturday, July 20, three weeks from today, with a start time of 1:00 or so; and we'll be at the Bywater once again. So, use the comment section for planning and for any questions you might have. If you're planning to come, or if you're a maybe, please let RandallT know so he can put you on our list of attendees. You can see the list on each day's "New Day" diary; currently we have ten planning to attend and five maybe's.
Well, for me, the trip to Raleigh for Moral Monday this past monday had something of a downside. As mentioned before, I don't travel well; and I was reminded of that fact soon after the bus pulled away and started heading East. Physically, the trip was for me rather unpleasant; and I spent all of our bus time just trying to focus on keeping my stomach calm.
We got to the protest location early enough that I was able to sit for a while and rest; and by the time the speakers started getting the crowd warmed up, I was up and in the middle of the crowd.
And despite all the physical discomfort of the trip, it was well worth it. Reverend Barber was as inspirational as expected, and it was wonderful to be there in person to see and hear him speak. And all of the speakers were great. And the crowd was wonderful; everyone smiling and sharing and joyful and determined. According to the News & Observer, there were more than three thousand people there. One hundred and ten of those were on the two buses from Asheville.
At one point, the crowd divided; and the folks who had volunteered to be arrested for civil disobedience walked through the crowd, led by many clergy from a variety of traditions. It was very moving. Tears came to the eyes several times throughout the two hours we were on the field.
Reverend Barber and the North Carolina NAACP have done a wonderful job of building a broad coalition and being very inclusive. And while the NAACP has something of a Christian identity, Reverend Barber in his speech stressed that we are a movement of all traditions, including Jewish, Muslim and other traditions, and atheists as well, in his remarks. He, and they, have sought to bring together women, LGBT, labor, immigrants, minorities, the unemployed, low income workers, and many others. At this time in our state's history, when extreme conservatives have taken control of our government and passed regressive and hurtful laws, we are very fortunate that we have Reverend Barber and the NAACP leading this movement.
The group on my bus were a bunch of really nice folks, and our leaders made the trip enjoyable for everyone, telling stories, supplying information, leading chants; and even though I was pretty withdrawn and focused on keeping my stomach calm, I had a great appreciation for that group of people.
And I would like to express my appreciation for fellow DKos Asheville member LamontCranston, who looked after me while we were on the ground in Asheville; thank you! If there were other members on the trip, I apologize for not making contact; I was pretty out of it.
The protest was a moving and wonderful experience, for which I am very grateful.
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Let us know what's going on around Asheville and Western North Carolina this weekend.
And enjoy your day!