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.
We have set a date of Saturday, July 20, for the next meetup, 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.
Reading about the "Moral Monday" event in Raleigh this past week has been encouraging. According to the News & Observer, the police estimated a crowd of 1,000 protestors, and event organizers estimated the crowd at 1,600. The event was the fifth of the Moral Monday protests, and the largest so far. The number arrested was also the largest at around 150.
Last Sunday, Denise Oliver Velez wrote a wonderful front page diary, The 'Moral Monday' movement in North Carolina. Denise wrote "For too long the word "morality" has been attached to reactionary themes touted by right-wing hypocrites ... In North Carolina, a broad coalition of activists are taking back that word and once again calling on the moral authority of our great leaders of the past, forging a step forward into a brighter future for the poor, for people of color, for LBGT citizens, for women, the elderly, veterans and our children." There have been several other diaries highlighting Moral Mondays recently, some of which have been republished to DKos Asheville where you can find them for further reading.
One of the videos that Denise included in her piece was an interview with a young student at NC State who had been arrested at an earlier Moral Monday event. I thought it important enough to include here for those who haven't yet seen it.
These protests are not the size of the events we saw at the capitol in Wisconsin - yet. But they are, I think, important; and they can be helpful in getting the attention of voters here in North Carolina, getting them to pay attention to what is going on in our legislature. They can also be helpful in bringing the attention of others around the country who can step in and help, as we did with the effort in Wisconsin.
Raleigh is a bit of a drive from Asheville, but I keep thinking I would like to go and participate. I think this might be a good activity for DKos Asheville, a field trip to our state's capitol. We wouldn't have to get arrested; folks volunteer for that aspect of the protests. But we can lend our support by increasing the numbers of those physically present on site.
If you are interested in such a trip, please discuss in the comments section, or send me a message. I'm happy to drive (I don't ride well).
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I have company this weekend, so I might not be around much in the comments today; but I'll try to check in. Let us know what you're doing today, and how your gardens are doing.
And enjoy your Saturday!
Thanks,
David