Clergy lead Monday protests at General Assembly - here my friend Anne gets arrested

The photo shows my friend Anne Wilson, who is married to a minister, getting arrested. I had lunch with her a couple of days ago, and she talked about the potential of it happening to her Monday. She talked about it with steely grit, yet I could sense she was understandably nervous about it as well. Anne is a local activist, a hero in my eyes. She works tirelessly for local and state wide Democratic causes, and is an inspiration to me.



By Anne Blythe and Caitlin Owens — ablythe@newsobserver.com

RALEIGH — Despite tornado warnings across the state, several thousand demonstrators gathered Monday under rainy skies to continue the weekly protests of the new policies and laws coming out of the General Assembly.
This week, religious leaders from around the state led the rally that resulted more than 80 arrests, according to Jamie Phillips, an state NAACP attorney. A reporter with The Charlotte Observer, who was interviewing demonstrators, was among those detained.
Many arrested were clergy.
“We’re here to stand on the side of the poor, the marginalized, the oppressed,” said Jason Williams, a clergyman from Charlotte who was not among those arrested.
Seven rabbis from temples in Raleigh, Cary, Durham and Chapel Hill issued a letter on Monday in support of the “Moral Monday” movement that has led to more than 350 arrests since April 29 and brought thousands of demonstrators to Raleigh to voice their ire about cuts to Medicaid and unemployment benefits that affect more than half a million North Carolinians. Their grievances also include: voter ID, women’s rights, the elimination of the estate tax and private school vouchers.
Rabbi Lucy Dinner of Temple Beth Or in Raleigh, Rabbi Ariel Edery of Temple Beth Shalom in Cary, Rabbi Jen Feldman of Kehillah Synagogue in Chapel Hill, Rabbi Frank Fischer of Chapel Hill, Rabbi John Friedman of Judea Reform Congregation in Durham, Rabbi Raachel Jurovics, of Yavneh in Raleigh and Rabbi Eric Solomon of Beth Meyer Synagogue in Raleigh issued a statement on Monday, as individuals.
“Many of us have previously attempted to reach out to Assembly leaders for dialogue, and we have been ignored,” the rabbis said. “We therefore endorse the use of nonviolent civil disobedience to draw attention to the reckless and heartless policies currently passing into law in Raleigh. ... We recognize the need for solidarity at this time in North Carolina. The Jewish vision of social justice is broadly shared by all people of faith who are mobilizing this Monday, and now is the time to speak out.”

Read much more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/06/11/2954059/clergy-lead-moral-monday-demonstration.html#storylink=cpy