The weather has been dry around Madison, Wisconsin lately. Not too hot, just dry. We needed some rain. We got some today – a thorough, soaking rain with some friendly thunder – right around noon.
Noon today was also the time that the Wisconsin NAACP and the rest of the Forward Together Wisconsin coalition had chosen to kick off their Moral Week of Action. The actions are timed to coincide with similar actions in other states, all inspired by the Moral Monday actions in North Carolina.
The plan in Madison was to hold a press conference on the Capitol steps followed by a march around the Capitol square.
Then came a blessing in the form of the rain. The press conference was moved inside to the Capitol rotunda, where the Solidarity Sing Along has been holding a peaceful, singing protest every weekday noon hour since March, 2011. The singers not only graciously gave way to the press conference activities, most of them stayed for the speeches and everyone ended the hour by singing a couple of traditional civil rights song and a newer tune called “Forward Together”.
(A few singers ducked outside to sing and keep the weekday streak alive. Today happened to be Solidarity Sing Along #900! photo by Lisa Wells)
(In the last photo I posted of this Capitol Police officer, she was using pain compliance on a young African American man who had the audacity to sing in the rotunda. Here she is helping tape a banner to one of the columns. Isn't that nice? Photo by Susan Cohen.)
The purpose of today's event was to set the scene for the next seven days of action. Here is the official press release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 18, 2014
The Forward Together Wisconsin coalition will Stand Together to Challenge Injustice and Regressive Public Policies during a Moral Week of Action at the Wisconsin State Capitol
Other States Are Holding Similar Campaigns across Nation
Madison, WI –The statewide coalition of religious, social justice and labor organizations, Forward Together Wisconsin, is mobilizing for a Moral Week of Action at the Wisconsin State Capitol from August 21–28 to stand up against the flood of regressive social policies pushed and passed by legislators in the past two years.
Across the nation, coalitions in other states will stand in solidarity with the Moral Week of Action by undertaking similar campaigns at their legislative houses to protest extremist lawmakers who champion laws that devastate the country’s most vulnerable communities.
“The policies and actions undertaken by the Wisconsin state legislature have set the stage for a path of pain and destruction that will be felt by the people of Wisconsin for years to come. Wisconsin, once a national leader in political reform and improving the human condition, has fallen short of the virtues of the Wisconsin Idea,” said Gregory Jones – NAACP Wisconsin State Political Action Chair.
Each day at the Wisconsin State Capitol East Entrance, from 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m., the coalition will lift its voices for certain urgent issues while still recognizing the inherent connections between all social justice struggles and movements. A march around the Capitol Building will immediately follow the days’ speeches.
The issues that this Moral Week of Action will emphasize are:
Thursday, 8.21 – News Conference with Wisconsin Clergy and Moral Leaders
Friday, 8.22 – Labor Rights, Fair and Living Wages, and Economic Justice
Saturday, 8.23 – Education and Criminal Justice
Sunday, 8.24 – Equal Protection under the Law: Call for Respect in the Law and in the Community regardless of race, creed, class, gender, sexual orientation and immigration status
Monday, 8.25 – Youth Moral Monday
Tuesday, 8.26 – Women’s Rights
Wednesday, 8.27 – Medicaid Expansion, Health Care and Environmental Justice
Thursday, 8.28 – Voting Rights
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The convergence of the Forward Together movement and the Solidarity Sing Along was a reunion of sorts.
In March of this year some of the founders of the Forward Together Moral Movement came to Madison for a day of events. They were hosted by local labor unions, churches, the new Dane County chapter of the NAACP, and other organizations. The Rev. William J. Barber III and others from North Carolina stopped at the Solidarity Sing Along that day (it was held outside) and led the group in song, then spoke to the community later that evening at one of the downtown churches.
Rev. Barber returned to Wisconsin later in the spring to assist in organizing the Forward Together Wisconsin coalition.
If you are in Madison any day over the next week, come and support the Forward Together Wisconsin coalition.
First photo below by Jonathan Rosenblum. Additional photos below by Lisa Wells.