It's 11:03pm on the East Coast on November 21, 2013.
In less than 24 hours, it will be at the exact minute that is 50 years since someone murdered President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. The exact details of his murder or assassination are not concrete for me or many Americans or even citizens of the world, for that matter.
There are "official reports" about his demise, but one thing is certain. He died before he could really shine.
Many others died before they could really shine too. Emmett Till, Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Senator Robert Francis Kennedy come to my mind, as well. There are those that have been and continue to step up in the legacy of MLK. Our own NC Conference of the NAACP President Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, Rev. Curtis Gatewood, Bob Zellner and Tim Tyson fight for that legacy daily. There are others...don't think I'm not honoring you as well. I honor all who stand up to fight for MLK and Malcolm X's legacies.
For me, I suppose I personally feel drawn to the legacy of RFK. Weeks before his own death, Bobby Kennedy correctly predicted the election of a "negro president" some 40 years in the future. There is a book called The Gospel According to RFK: Why It Matters Now. It is a collection of Sen. Kennedy's speeches on the campaign trail in the Democratic primaries for President in the Spring and Summer of 1968. It is edited by Norman MacAfee. It is so inspirational to me and it helps to drive my progressive activism for justice every day.
I was briefly inspired and excited by the national presence of Sen. John Edwards, who seem to be picking up the mantle of Bobby Kennedy's impassioned work for the poor, the workers, women, minorities and the sick and elderly. The accusations and allegations of impropriety in both family and campaign finance matters shattered that vision for me and millions of others, I'm sure.
So, now we have that African American president. Once he became President, though, President Obama was shackled by the office and by his willingness to compromise with unreasonable Republicans and Tea Party members in pursuit of the greatest good for the country.
President Obama needs help. Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alan Grayson and others are amazing, but they cannot do this alone.
So...as the 50th anniversary of the murder of Bobby Kennedy's older brother approaches in a few hours, I ask: Who will pick up the mantle of RFK? His legacy must continue...
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
MORAL DISSENTERS
For those that want to learn more about the 3rd Reconstruction, fusion movement known as the FORWARD TOGETHER movement, sprung from the HKonJ (Historic Thousands on Jones Street) movement, this is your chance. Please listen to the whole program. The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II gives such an extraordinarily brilliant lecture on the TRUE history of our nation.
As a White Male, I plead with you to watch:
http://new.livestream.com/accounts/5188266/events/2495417/videos/33433444
God be with us all!
Asa A. Gregory
As a White Male, I plead with you to watch:
http://new.livestream.com/accounts/5188266/events/2495417/videos/33433444
God be with us all!
Asa A. Gregory
Monday, October 21, 2013
Greedy, Nonchalant Corporations, 2; Asa's aggressive chair retaliation, 1.8...More to come...
Most who know me know my disdain for huge corporations and the passes they are given by loopholed laws and government officials that either look the other way or vote to deregulate them. Deregulation can and has been the cause of financial and market crises.
You may also know that I feel that the fact that Wall Street and other world stock markets are inherently linked to the individual national and the worlds economies is simply a pyramid scheme. The success or failure of the markets affects the rest of us who don't care to participate in the legalized gambling that is stock trading.
Well, after being steamrolled by two American corporations today, I about lost it, but I found a healthy response.
Here's what happened:
Last week, after realizing I need to take my destiny into my own hands after striking out on getting substitute teacher gigs so far this year and getting rejections (or no responses) from employers both public and private, I took some action on wyzant.com ("wise-ant"). Wyzant Tutoring is basically a tutoring job clearing house and I acted as a subcontracted tutor through them. We split payments (60/40) in my favor.
Last Spring, I met with a client working to improve Praxis 1 Reading scores. We made great progress and we enjoyed working together. It helped bridge the gap between sub gigs and shifts at Auto Zone.
Last week, the action I took was to reply to some emails, apply for some potential tutoring jobs, take some subject certification tests online and order a background check on myself. For that last one, I had just over $8 bucks in the bank and the background check cost about $8. I didn't have to order it, but 8 is my favorite number and I was trying to get organized, motivated and proactive with my destiny.
A day went by and I didn't have the background check completed. No big deal. Then I got an email from Wyzant.com saying that my account had been deactivated due to a negative response on the background check I ordered on myself.
I'm not an idiot. I knew I had been arrested for 3 misdemeanors this past June 3 for refusing to leave the General Assembly building in protest of, among other terrible pieces of legislation, the cuts to public education. These cuts hurt educators, students, parents and administrators. So, I was proud to stand with all of them when I got arrested.
Since this is America, though, I assumed that because I was innocent until proven guilty, I wouldn't have that counted against me in my background check. Of course I was wrong.
I called Wyzant on Friday and a guy was very helpful and he asserted (after checking with supervisors) that only convictions of felonies within the last 5 years and convictions of misdemeanors within the last 3 years would call for my accout to be deactivated. He sympathized with my situation and he advised me to call Lexis Nexis (or whatever it's called now) first thing Monday (today).
I did.
You may also know that I feel that the fact that Wall Street and other world stock markets are inherently linked to the individual national and the worlds economies is simply a pyramid scheme. The success or failure of the markets affects the rest of us who don't care to participate in the legalized gambling that is stock trading.
Well, after being steamrolled by two American corporations today, I about lost it, but I found a healthy response.
Here's what happened:
Last week, after realizing I need to take my destiny into my own hands after striking out on getting substitute teacher gigs so far this year and getting rejections (or no responses) from employers both public and private, I took some action on wyzant.com ("wise-ant"). Wyzant Tutoring is basically a tutoring job clearing house and I acted as a subcontracted tutor through them. We split payments (60/40) in my favor.
Last Spring, I met with a client working to improve Praxis 1 Reading scores. We made great progress and we enjoyed working together. It helped bridge the gap between sub gigs and shifts at Auto Zone.
Last week, the action I took was to reply to some emails, apply for some potential tutoring jobs, take some subject certification tests online and order a background check on myself. For that last one, I had just over $8 bucks in the bank and the background check cost about $8. I didn't have to order it, but 8 is my favorite number and I was trying to get organized, motivated and proactive with my destiny.
A day went by and I didn't have the background check completed. No big deal. Then I got an email from Wyzant.com saying that my account had been deactivated due to a negative response on the background check I ordered on myself.
I'm not an idiot. I knew I had been arrested for 3 misdemeanors this past June 3 for refusing to leave the General Assembly building in protest of, among other terrible pieces of legislation, the cuts to public education. These cuts hurt educators, students, parents and administrators. So, I was proud to stand with all of them when I got arrested.
Since this is America, though, I assumed that because I was innocent until proven guilty, I wouldn't have that counted against me in my background check. Of course I was wrong.
I called Wyzant on Friday and a guy was very helpful and he asserted (after checking with supervisors) that only convictions of felonies within the last 5 years and convictions of misdemeanors within the last 3 years would call for my accout to be deactivated. He sympathized with my situation and he advised me to call Lexis Nexis (or whatever it's called now) first thing Monday (today).
I did.
The person on the other end of the line obviously didn't care. They told me that, indeed, my arrest on 3 misdemeanor counts in June was the cause of the "negative" rating on the background check for which I paid. Knowing there was no reasoning with a background check robot, I said thank you in robot language and we terminated the conversation.
So, obviously, the next step was calling Wyzant.
At first I got a young lady with an accent who, bless her heart for trying, couldn't help me. I didn't blame her and I know her position in the company. I called back and got a young man with a midwestern to northwestern American accent. "Score!" I thought (though I knew he was in the same position as the last person). I realized he could only listen and give me the information he knew.
I tried to request that Wyzant communicate with Lexis Nexis (or whatever) to get the mitigating information about my negative rating. He, along with the previous young lady, told me that they don't see the details of the background report. They just see pass or fail. I tried to request a refund of the $8, since I most likely will have to request another background report after my charges are dropped (as I highly anticipate them to be, since they are unconstitutionally bogus). Like I said, he and the previous young lady are essentially cogs in a big corporate machine, so I thanked them and asked them to pass my requests and my further information along.
I was angry...of course. Here I was trying to "pull myself up by the 'boot straps'" and work for my own successful fiscal destiny. Then two American corporations screw me over.
I began to think about my situation and how, in my opinion, background check organizations (that make a profit on our backgrounds) are rendering many of these "negative" reports unconstitutionally. It violates my 5th and 6th Amendment rights.
Then I thought about how I was in bed with the Gun Nut Wing of the Tea Party Rethuglicans. I shuddered, said "Ugh!" & went to work running errands for my parents, cleaning their shower stall and cleaning/organizing their back yard.
Then, wielding a mallet hammer, I decimated three plastic yard chairs for my parents to the tunes of "Bad to the Bone" by George Thorogood, "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey & "Hollywood Nights" by Bob Seger.
It's a slight loss on my part, but DAMN, that felt good!
So, obviously, the next step was calling Wyzant.
At first I got a young lady with an accent who, bless her heart for trying, couldn't help me. I didn't blame her and I know her position in the company. I called back and got a young man with a midwestern to northwestern American accent. "Score!" I thought (though I knew he was in the same position as the last person). I realized he could only listen and give me the information he knew.
I tried to request that Wyzant communicate with Lexis Nexis (or whatever) to get the mitigating information about my negative rating. He, along with the previous young lady, told me that they don't see the details of the background report. They just see pass or fail. I tried to request a refund of the $8, since I most likely will have to request another background report after my charges are dropped (as I highly anticipate them to be, since they are unconstitutionally bogus). Like I said, he and the previous young lady are essentially cogs in a big corporate machine, so I thanked them and asked them to pass my requests and my further information along.
I was angry...of course. Here I was trying to "pull myself up by the 'boot straps'" and work for my own successful fiscal destiny. Then two American corporations screw me over.
I began to think about my situation and how, in my opinion, background check organizations (that make a profit on our backgrounds) are rendering many of these "negative" reports unconstitutionally. It violates my 5th and 6th Amendment rights.
Then I thought about how I was in bed with the Gun Nut Wing of the Tea Party Rethuglicans. I shuddered, said "Ugh!" & went to work running errands for my parents, cleaning their shower stall and cleaning/organizing their back yard.
Then, wielding a mallet hammer, I decimated three plastic yard chairs for my parents to the tunes of "Bad to the Bone" by George Thorogood, "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey & "Hollywood Nights" by Bob Seger.
It's a slight loss on my part, but DAMN, that felt good!
Wednesday, October 02, 2013
LTE in defense of the LAW known as the Affordable Care Act...Move On!!
Thursday, September 19, 2013 9:36 PM No right to health care in Constitution I almost choked on my dinner this evening while I read the latest socialist ramblings of Deborah Baro. Health care is now a basic human right. Without it, Americans’ ability to pursue life, liberty and happiness is diminished. Apparently, without health care, people can’t improve their station in life. According to Ms. Baro’s letter, only the wealthy can afford health care. Needless to say, these statements are absurd. I’ve read the Constitution many times. There is no right to health care. It is typical for radial leftists like Ms. Baro to find new rights in a document that is over 250 years old. Just because certain people think they are entitled to certain things doesn’t make it so. I think all kids are entitled to a good home with two parents. I think we are entitled to be represented by legislators who vote according to their constituents’ wishes. My wishes aren’t anything guaranteed by our Constitution. Neither are Ms. Baro’s. I was told a long time ago that nothing in life is guaranteed. If you want something, you work hard in school, get a good education and find a good paying job. I was raised to believe that you earned your own way and didn’t expect someone to hand it to you. Here is where we hit the crux of the problem with the liberal left. They want the middle class to work hard and pay their taxes. Then they want to take the tax money and support those who are unwilling to make their own way in life. They not only take our taxes to pay for Obamacare, Obama phones, SNAP, WIC and the like, but borrow trillions of dollars on top of it to keep their dependency economy running. Personally, I’m tired of hearing what people in this country are entitled to have. I think you’re entitled to get off your butt, find a job and make a positive contribution to society. I don’t think you’re entitled to mooch off the government when you’re perfectly capable of doing otherwise. We need to end government dependency, not increase it. We need to eliminate wasteful government welfare programs. We don’t need to add health care for the masses to the bills the government has to pay. No one in this country is denied health care service, anyway. If you go to the hospital seeking care, you are given care whether or not you have insurance. The idea that people can’t live without health insurance is ridiculous. There are thousands upon thousands of people who don’t have or want health care insurance. They don’t think the benefits outweigh the costs. What about their right to not have insurance? Did Ms. Baro ever think the mandatory edict that everyone purchase health care insurance would diminish the pursuit of happiness of some Americans? Let me answer that one for you with a quick no. The left doesn’t care how their entitlements affect the vast majority of Americans. They will allow millions of Americans to suffer just to save a few. They are like the doctor who treats a patient’s paper cut while he is dying of a heart attack. They fix small problems and allow the major problems to continue. Ms. Baro’s attack of the tea party is also straight from the liberal handbook. You call everyone who disagrees with you stupid, uninformed, racist, sexist, and any other name you can think of at the time. She says tea party members like bullet-type information with no explanations. Nothing could be further from the truth. All the letters written in response to Ms. Baro’s and Mr. Smith’s letters are full of information, explanations and research. That’s why Ms. Baro and her followers dislike the tea party so much. We have pages upon pages of facts to back up our arguments. She has none. She has made up facts, left leaning polls and name calling on her side. Take, for instance, her assertion that two thirds of Americans want Obamacare left alone. It came from a poll from MSNBC. In case anyone doesn’t know, MSNBC is the mouthpiece for the radical left. I have researched the popularity of Obamacare and, shockingly, it is in stark contrast to the single poll Ms. Baro cites. Real Clear Politics charts many polls on certain subjects and puts out an average poll based on their findings. Real Clear Politics poll says 52 percent oppose Obamacare while 38 percent favor it. Every poll used by Real Clear Politics has the majority of Americans opposed to Obamacare by at least 10 percentage points. NBC, FOX, Rasmussen, CNN and even USA Today all had recent polls that showed the unpopularity of this law. CNN, a liberal news organization, had the unfavorable rating of Obamacare at 57 percent! Yet, somehow, Ms. Baro states that two thirds of Americans want Obamacare left alone. It makes me question Ms. Baro’s research methods. I found my information with one search that took me a total of five minutes. I’m sure Ms. Baro found the same results I did. Why would she not include these polls in her letter? Could it be because these polls run contrary to her point? As the old saying goes, don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story. It should be the motto of the Obama administration. Danny Ellis Sims |
I’m sure Mr. Danny Ellis of Sims has long written off a strong response to his letter to the editor published on September 19.
Since it was about the Affordable Care Act and its “constitutionality,” I figure the topic is still germane, considering the opening of the enrollment on October 1 and the efforts of the GOP members of Congress to effectively shut down the federal government based on their similar complaints about the Affordable Care Act.
I was first told of your letter, Mr. Ellis, by my independent-minded fiancée on the day it was published. She was upset with your tone and language and I later read why. The arrogance and vindictiveness of your language abounds. You rant about “entitlements” and then say generally “I think you’re entitled to get off your butt, find a job and make a positive contribution to society.” How dare you talk to Ms. Baro or, really, ANY of us with that tone? You don’t even speak with accuracy.
The U.S. Constitution is only 226 years old (from the date of its adoption by the Constitutional Convention), not over 250 years old, as you claimed. I would imagine someone who has “read the Constitution many times” should know that. You did/do not, however.
You also do not know (maybe realize?) that “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” is a phrase in the Declaration of Independence, not the U.S. Constitution…a full two major documents before the Constitution (don’t forget the failed “states’ rights” document called the Articles of Confederation).
At this point, you probably have some “What difference does it make?” reaction.
Let me explain to you the extremely important difference. The founding fathers (yes, we “liberals” can do that too!) actively did not put that language in the Constitution because it was not a values/emotions document. It was a corrective measure for the failed Articles of Confederation.
That means that the founding fathers made a mistake as a
body and they corrected it. The result
has now stood for 224 plus years, with amendments, and has the respect of
patriots like you and me.
I ask you to put your fork down for this one, Mr.
Ellis. I don’t want you to choke on your
meal.
Now, you claim that there is NO RIGHT to health care in the
Constitution. Let’s review and analyze
the preamble to the United States Constitution:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
So, this is the mission statement of the document. This explains WHY the founding fathers scrapped the Articles and came back to draft this. Did you catch that one word in the preamble...”Welfare.” That’s right the right-wing, Tea Party taboo word. Did you notice the way it was written? It was capitalized, just like Justice, Tranquility, Blessings of Liberty, Posterity and Union. That means they thought Welfare was a big deal. That means they thought welfare important enough to not leave it out of the Constitution.
So, what? Well, welfare has varying definitions, so I won’t quote one version here. For all of us who know the English language, we should know that welfare means the general well-being, health, happiness and fortunes of any individual or group (in this case, citizens of the United States of America).
That means HEALTH CARE is a right the founding fathers believed was important before the insurance industry monolith existed. That means they had no concept of what health insurance could be. They did think that the health, well-being and fortunes of the citizens crucial to the survival of this republic. That means the Affordable Care Act “jives” with their vision. Three branches of government agree…as required by the U.S. Constitution.
So, the Affordable Care Act is a LAW, something the GOP-controlled U.S. House doesn’t know anything about because they haven’t gotten any law passed since gaining power in January 2011. Ineptitude in action!
Now, I’m going to get personal. Mr. Ellis, you told me to get off my butt, find a job and make a positive contribution to society.
I really take offense to that statement not just for myself, but for the countless folks that you just insulted with that language. Personally, I am an underemployed substitute teacher who has stacks of rejections from state and federal government and other agencies, despite my vast qualifications. Speaking to my self-esteem, I believe any organization would be quite lucky to pay me to help them with their mission. As far as my positive contribution to society, I defer to others who know me to speak to that.
I haven’t had health insurance since May of 2006. I had Blue Cross/Blue Shield of NC at the time. My wife left me, took the mail key and made me miss some important mail from BCBSNC. They dropped my coverage without calling me and then told me I had to pay more than $800 to get back on. My loving father wrote the check and BCBSNC rejected the check they told me I had to send them.
Those are the games that the ACA sought to eliminate and those are the games that the ACA has often eliminated. Because of the ACA, health insurance companies are required to spend 80% of their income on medical care. I’m ok with that change. Aren’t you? If you’re not, what’s wrong with you?
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
So, this is the mission statement of the document. This explains WHY the founding fathers scrapped the Articles and came back to draft this. Did you catch that one word in the preamble...”Welfare.” That’s right the right-wing, Tea Party taboo word. Did you notice the way it was written? It was capitalized, just like Justice, Tranquility, Blessings of Liberty, Posterity and Union. That means they thought Welfare was a big deal. That means they thought welfare important enough to not leave it out of the Constitution.
So, what? Well, welfare has varying definitions, so I won’t quote one version here. For all of us who know the English language, we should know that welfare means the general well-being, health, happiness and fortunes of any individual or group (in this case, citizens of the United States of America).
That means HEALTH CARE is a right the founding fathers believed was important before the insurance industry monolith existed. That means they had no concept of what health insurance could be. They did think that the health, well-being and fortunes of the citizens crucial to the survival of this republic. That means the Affordable Care Act “jives” with their vision. Three branches of government agree…as required by the U.S. Constitution.
So, the Affordable Care Act is a LAW, something the GOP-controlled U.S. House doesn’t know anything about because they haven’t gotten any law passed since gaining power in January 2011. Ineptitude in action!
Now, I’m going to get personal. Mr. Ellis, you told me to get off my butt, find a job and make a positive contribution to society.
I really take offense to that statement not just for myself, but for the countless folks that you just insulted with that language. Personally, I am an underemployed substitute teacher who has stacks of rejections from state and federal government and other agencies, despite my vast qualifications. Speaking to my self-esteem, I believe any organization would be quite lucky to pay me to help them with their mission. As far as my positive contribution to society, I defer to others who know me to speak to that.
I haven’t had health insurance since May of 2006. I had Blue Cross/Blue Shield of NC at the time. My wife left me, took the mail key and made me miss some important mail from BCBSNC. They dropped my coverage without calling me and then told me I had to pay more than $800 to get back on. My loving father wrote the check and BCBSNC rejected the check they told me I had to send them.
Those are the games that the ACA sought to eliminate and those are the games that the ACA has often eliminated. Because of the ACA, health insurance companies are required to spend 80% of their income on medical care. I’m ok with that change. Aren’t you? If you’re not, what’s wrong with you?
You can keep having your nonchalant, vindictive and selfish
views about your community. That’s a
First Amendment right. I’ll fight to
defend that right for you. What I won’t
let you do is accomplish what the “Suicide Caucus” Tea Party members of
Congress sought to accomplish by allowing the federal government to be shut
down Monday night. The ACA is LAW. Move on…
You have no clue, Mr. Ellis and I frankly feel sorry for you. Your myopic view of the world is (I’m confident) “informed” by commercial “talking points” news agencies and like-minded folks that don’t challenge any of your comments or views. That means you are surrounded by “yes men/women.”
I’m challenged daily by friends and strangers alike and I have looked at your side. To quote a thoroughly brilliant friend of mine, “I could agree with you, but then I’d be wrong.”
Asa Gregory
Wilson, NC
You have no clue, Mr. Ellis and I frankly feel sorry for you. Your myopic view of the world is (I’m confident) “informed” by commercial “talking points” news agencies and like-minded folks that don’t challenge any of your comments or views. That means you are surrounded by “yes men/women.”
I’m challenged daily by friends and strangers alike and I have looked at your side. To quote a thoroughly brilliant friend of mine, “I could agree with you, but then I’d be wrong.”
Asa Gregory
Wilson, NC
Monday, July 29, 2013
Why I Engaged in Civil Disobedience at the North Carolina General Assembly Building
Why I Engaged in Civil Disobedience at the North Carolina General Assembly Building
A great friend and mentor asked me to write about my experience of getting arrested in the legislative building on Jones Street in Raleigh, NC on June 3, 2013.
I am disappointed in myself that I have not written anything about it until now. However, as I tell everyone I can, the ONLY thing I get more CONSERVATIVE about as I get older is the notion that Everything DOES happen for a reason.
I didn't return for the 6th Wave of Moral Monday on June 10, as I intended, but I did make it to Raleigh on Monday, June 17 with my fiancée Brooke Bissette. We made it up to the Halifax Mall for the final portion of the rally after the heroes with the green bands made their way into the legislative building to petition their state government for grievances through civil disobedience, loud singing and the displaying of (state statute prohibited) "unlawful" placards or signs. It is, however, their (U.S. & NC) Constitutional right to do so (read both constitutions if you don't believe me).
I was disappointed that I was not there to cheer on the heroes this time as so many did last time as I walked in to certain detainment. However, the "alumni" of Moral Monday arrestees were called to the front of the stage at the rally. Brooke greatly urged me to go. So, I went.
We were led in the singing of songs that were familiar to us that have already been arrested to that point.
"Ain't gonna let nobody turn me around...turn me around..."
"Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe we shall overcome someday..."
They were echoes of the civil rights movement that came before us where people gave so much more...which, in turn, was an echo of the abolitionist & suffrage movements that came before that.
It seems odd that in the 21st Century (where our criminal records are documented with laser-scanning technology and computers) that we have to stand again and sing the songs that seemed to have wrapped a good portion of the movement of the good souls to this point....
BUT...
Here we are.
I first heard of "Moral Mondays" just as I heard of HKonJ (Historic Thousands on Jones Street...which started, I should point out, when Democrats controlled all branches of state government). It wasn't a "gimmick" phrase or brand...but it wasn't concrete either.
It wasn't until I attended the 13th Congressional District (North Carolina Democratic Party) Convention as the Former Chair of the Wilson County Democratic Party & a delegate (my parting official position with the party) that HKonJ and Moral Mondays sweetly pierced my heart.
A 92-year-old mother of a Moral Monday arrestee (and the chair of the Franklin County Democratic Party) Armenta Eaton stood up and put forth a resolution for our 13th Congressional District Convention of the North Carolina Democratic Party to support Moral Mondays.
She spoke of her daughter's arrest. She spoke of women, elderly, minorities, children, sickly, poor; working poor...She basically spoke to my heart's core. It is for these people that I have driven myself to work politically and within the community to make things better for all of them...all of us. She spoke to me. She spoke to the convention. She spoke to the state. She made HKonJ and Moral Mondays PERSONAL.
I agreed with her, clapping, with tears in my eyes and became resolute that I would pray on acting in civil disobedience in the legislative building very soon in my life's future.
As I mentioned before, everything happens for a reason.
I didn't go to the May 20 Moral Monday (two days after the convention).
I made sure I was off of work and my calendar was clear for June 3. Brooke went with me and was so supportive and patient with her activist fiancé. She even considered being arrested with me. Her love and support was enough, though.
We made it to the debriefing and training session at a church in Raleigh just after 3pm. The church was FULL!
There was an attempt made by (what I found out later to be) the NAACP legal team to check everyone in, but there were so many folks that were willing to be arrested. This was "Mega Moral Monday," after all.
I found two friends from Wilson (particularly the Wilson branch of the NAACP, of which I have been and are now a member), Charles Cook and Frank Jones. They are both very close to the Rev. Dr. William Barber who has been the rock, the fire and the calming hand on this growing storm of reaction to the regressive policies of the GOP-led North Carolina General Assembly.
I happened to be standing near Charles and Frank when there was a call for prayer. I was honored to place my hand on Frank's shoulder before saying "Amen," and making my way to the back of the church [remember...it was crowded! :-)]
I stood at the back and listened to the testimonies, the prayers and the instructions for those that chose to practice civil disobedience. Strips of green cloth were passed out to those that volunteered to get arrested. Soon after that, instructions were given that a bus was available to take the "heroes" to Halifax Mall. It would return for all that needed a ride. I met up with Brooke, gave her all my possessions (including my cell phone, wallet, "ASA" hat and buttons), and kissed her goodbye.
After grabbing a bottle of water and eating some almonds before going to the restroom, I ventured outside and spoke with some of my fellow green-banders. I spoke at length with Chip Smith, who had been arrested once before in protest of the death penalty in Pennsylvania in 2000 before moving to the Rocky Mount area. He heard I was from Wilson and told me that he plays bridge at the J.C. Harris Cadillac dealership. It was a calming and emboldening conversation.
The impending arrest was becoming more real to me as the bus pulled up to the stop at Halifax Mall. The driver was kind. He smiled. I smiled and said, "Thank you for the ride." He nodded in appreciation of what we were all about to do.
I made my way out on to the Halifax Mall. I was first met by Olivia Neeley from The Wilson Times back home. Frank Jones had told her that some Wilson folks were there and recognized me from the stage. She interviewed me for the article asking me why I was there and why I was about to be arrested. I told her the story of Ms. Eaton's mother and the call within my soul to be there. I told her that I may be a drop in the bucket, but maybe I or the person next to me might be the drop to make it overflow and bring the change needed for this state, and by influence, the nation.
Soon after that, I found Brooke. I stood with her for a time and listened, cheered and clapped. Then I felt the call.
I wandered to where I thought the green-banded volunteers were to go. I ran into Jake Gellar-Goad, a friend and great Eastern Region Organizer for Democracy North Carolina. He introduced me to his friends Evelyn Paul (already a Facebook friend for me) and Michael Schachter from New Bern. We stood together and listened and watched and then moved to gather in line to enter the GA building.
We gathered two by two to walk in.
I noted (at least in my head...I may have said it out loud) that it was kind of like the animals gathering two by two onto the Ark before the Great Flood (which changed the world). [Mental post note: It is also notable that my thought pairs the word Ark with the word in the wonderful phrase: "The Arc of the Moral Universe is long, but it bends Toward Justice."]
When I met with my mentor and friend on July 4 to discuss the possibility of him being arrested for civil disobedience the following Monday, he revealed to me a vision that he had. He said he envisioned a woman standing with him in the "two-by-two" line. He asked her, "Are you scared?" She responded, "I am." He responded, "Me too."
This reminded me that I was paired with a woman whose eyes I could shield with the evening light angle. I did my best to shield her eyes as we walked in together.
When we got to the General Assembly building, she indicated that she needed to go to the restroom. I tried to help her find one and then she found one on her own. I felt tied to her and lost as I waited for her to return. I realized I was scared without her. She was my partner. I waited for her as long as I could and then I realized that it was time.
The Rev. Dr. Barber asked if there were other folks that wore the green strips of cloth. He encouraged us to move closer to the golden doors of the General Assembly.
We went in. We gathered around the fountain. We sang. We prayed. We cheered.
I looked for my partner and I couldn't make her out in the crowd. I knew she was there, though. I felt comfort in the 149 others that were prepared to be arrested with us. I settled in next to a woman I recognized from a video that was made to oppose the North Carolina Amendment One. I sang and prayed next to her. I felt comfort in numbers.
We sang. We prayed. We cheered. We prayed.
Then General Assembly Police Chief Jeff Weaver made the announcement that we had five minutes to disperse or we would all be subject to arrest.
We continued to sing. We continued to pray. We continued to pray.
Then, one by one (after "one minute" and "time's up" warnings from Chief Weaver), we were led to the elevators in small groups by GAPD and Raleigh (Capital) Police. We were then led to the basement (bowels) of the legislative building and gathered in the cafeteria.
It's at this point that I should point out that GAPD Chief Weaver, the GAPD, the RPD, the Wake County EMS, the Wake County Sheriff's Department and the CCBI treated us with the utmost grace and respect that I could have ever imagined. I thank them for doing their jobs and treating all of us protesters with care.
We were there for about two hours (most of us) as we waited for our name to be called to be led into the next room and the next step of processing.
Along the way, I sat beside two older gentleman who both confessed that they are current Democrats, but former Republicans who agreed that the Republican Party left them behind. I also sat near a gentleman named John Arnold, who as it turned out, was detained/arrested by a group that included his son-in-law who is an officer for the Raleigh Police Department (SWAT team too). I, Bruce Arnold and other fellow arrestees agreed that this was the story of the night! They took pictures that were posed greatly and are sure to be great memories for the family.
As we were moved further along in the seats, a group of very lively, happy women led us in singing of old sixties songs. One woman in front of me was trying to remember the name of one female singer in particular. Carole King was noted, but I was trying to remember the singer of the “Big Yellow Taxi” song with her. I kept thinking Joan Collins, but we both remembered Joni Mitchell around the same time.
They loaded us onto inmate transfer buses in groups of 25. Once they got us to the bottom, we walked out into the loading area and we heard chants of "Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!" along with great cheers from the group that remained assembled after a terrible storm was unleashed onto the city.
On the way to the Wake County Detention Center, we stuck our zip tie cuffs out the windows and sang "This Little Light of Mine," along with some other songs that we had sung inside the General Assembly building.
When we got to the detention center, we were ordered on benches, searched one by one and our possessions were placed into our envelopes that were set up at the General Assembly. In lieu of a body cavity search, they had a chair we sat on to determine if we had metal hidden in our bodies. A rolling of our face on a mark on the top of the chair determined if we had metal in our mouths/faces.
After this, it was a waiting game. It was a long waiting game. Our bus arrived at the detention center at around 8:45 or so.
I had great conversations with doctors, pastors, professors, retired individuals (such as Bruce Alexander). I was very grateful for the wisdom and comradery that I received from those that chose to be arrested on the same day as me.
We cheered those that moved into the next room that was the City-County Bureau of Identification (CCBI) when their name was called.
I did not get in to the CCBI room until about ten 'til 4am. We were interviewed about our name, address, occupation, etc. and then our prints and mug shots were taken. My mug shot (attached here on my poster) wasn't taken until 4:15am.
I finally saw the magistrate with those that would be the final four with me just before 5am. Lawrence, Robert, Carlton, thank you for keeping me together in that final hour.
I walked out on my own written promise to appear in court at about 5am. Most of the well-wishers had left. It was a long night for the processing of 151 + people. Those that remained, though, were fellow arrestees, the NAACP NC Conference legal team and Senator Earline Parmon. Senator Parmon was so kind and so proud of all of us. I was quite amazed that she was there at 5am to welcome the final four out.
She is a fine example of a representative that cares about all North Carolinians. Her colleagues have a lot to learn from her!
Having no cell phone and having not set up a ride to get back to Wilson (about an hour away), I set off for downtown Raleigh with the hopes that I could find a pay phone and make a collect call home and get Brooke to come pick me up. I walked about 3 miles towards Raleigh and I came across a BP station. The owner wasn't there yet. I tried my parents' number. They had collect calls blocked. I tried Brooke's Mom's number. She accepted my call. Brooke was there and made plans to come get me.
In the meantime, the News & Observer had been delivered to the store. I opened it up and scanned the headline and read the article about Moral Monday. Then I re-bound the papers and walked to the edge of the parking lot when the owner arrived. Not too long after I had set up the arrival of Brooke to take me home, the owner of the BP kicked me off his property and told me he couldn't have me sitting there like that. It was a slap in the face, but that's life.
Brooke arrived about an hour and a half later and I was on my way home to Wilson with her. I told her about the night and the sights I had seen and the sounds I had heard. I told her about the wisdom of my fellow arrestees and I realized that this was the absolute right time, right place and right action to take. I was grateful to be back in Wilson with Brooke and enjoy a breakfast before I finally slept at 10am. I was home.
On June 17th, on our way to Halifax Mall when we returned to Moral Mondays, I ran into Pastor Lawrence Womack, who was one of the final four released from the Wake County Detention Center on June 3, along with Pastor Robert Hood and Pastor Carlton Eversley and me (Preacher's Kid). The joy I saw on his face and the joy I felt inside were incomparable. I wondered if this was how the "Brothers in Arms" from the Dire Straits song felt when they saw each other alive again.
I introduced him to Brooke and I shook hands with another fellow arrestee from Pastor Womack's county, Pastor Williard Bass. I wished them peace and Godspeed and we passed along with smiles on our faces and love in our hearts.
When we returned to the area across from where they loaded the inmate transfer buses after the rally, I found one aspect to be telling of the whole HKonJ and Moral Monday/Witness Wednesday movement.
You see, there's one aspect of my history that I'm leaving out. My Dad is the Rev. Henry Duval "Greg" Gregory IV. That indicates history just by his name. Our story spans back a few more generations that are peppered with pastors, theologians and servants within the Presbyterian Church (USA) faith.
When Toussaint L'Ouverture was leading the Haitian Revolution that would lead to the independent nation of Haiti, my family was a family of sugar planters on the island of San Domingue.
When Toussaint's right-hand man, General Dessalines, led the violent portion of the revolution, my family was murdered, first with the head of the household being poisoned. The whole family succumbed to death, except for a boy named Caspar Ramsey Gregoire.
He encountered a former family slave in the streets of Port-au-Prince. Instead of killing him, the family slave negotiated his passage on a boat piloted by Captain Jones. Captain Jones delivered Caspar to Philadelphia, where he was taken in by a Presbyterian family. We have been Presbyterian ever since.
As I have argued in a Senior Religious Studies seminar at East Carolina University, "...we are, by debt, pacifists."
It was also telling that I ran into my friend David LaMotte, who told me that he had been arrested the week before. He also informed me that his father was being arrested this time. David and his father come from the Presbyterian Church and I am so proud of both of them for standing in their faith against the cruelness of this GOP-led regressive legislation.
He told me he had never been more proud of his father with a huge, peaceful smile on his face. That rings true.
When I was carried off in a bus, I heard "Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!" Two weeks later, when I returned to support the heroes, we chanted "Thank You! We LOVE You!"
That's the essence. That's the spirit. That's why I was arrested on June 3.
If these NC legislators understood that, we wouldn't be practicing civil disobedience and gumming up the court calendars with our physical petitions of grievance.
UPDATE: Armenta Eaton's 92-year-old mother, Rosa Nell "Rosie" Eaton, decided that she had had enough and was arrested earlier tonight on June 24, 2013.
She is inspiration enough for the continuation of the FORWARD TOGETHER movement (she inspired me!!!)! :-)
A great friend and mentor asked me to write about my experience of getting arrested in the legislative building on Jones Street in Raleigh, NC on June 3, 2013.
I am disappointed in myself that I have not written anything about it until now. However, as I tell everyone I can, the ONLY thing I get more CONSERVATIVE about as I get older is the notion that Everything DOES happen for a reason.
I didn't return for the 6th Wave of Moral Monday on June 10, as I intended, but I did make it to Raleigh on Monday, June 17 with my fiancée Brooke Bissette. We made it up to the Halifax Mall for the final portion of the rally after the heroes with the green bands made their way into the legislative building to petition their state government for grievances through civil disobedience, loud singing and the displaying of (state statute prohibited) "unlawful" placards or signs. It is, however, their (U.S. & NC) Constitutional right to do so (read both constitutions if you don't believe me).
I was disappointed that I was not there to cheer on the heroes this time as so many did last time as I walked in to certain detainment. However, the "alumni" of Moral Monday arrestees were called to the front of the stage at the rally. Brooke greatly urged me to go. So, I went.
We were led in the singing of songs that were familiar to us that have already been arrested to that point.
"Ain't gonna let nobody turn me around...turn me around..."
"Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe we shall overcome someday..."
They were echoes of the civil rights movement that came before us where people gave so much more...which, in turn, was an echo of the abolitionist & suffrage movements that came before that.
It seems odd that in the 21st Century (where our criminal records are documented with laser-scanning technology and computers) that we have to stand again and sing the songs that seemed to have wrapped a good portion of the movement of the good souls to this point....
BUT...
Here we are.
I first heard of "Moral Mondays" just as I heard of HKonJ (Historic Thousands on Jones Street...which started, I should point out, when Democrats controlled all branches of state government). It wasn't a "gimmick" phrase or brand...but it wasn't concrete either.
It wasn't until I attended the 13th Congressional District (North Carolina Democratic Party) Convention as the Former Chair of the Wilson County Democratic Party & a delegate (my parting official position with the party) that HKonJ and Moral Mondays sweetly pierced my heart.
A 92-year-old mother of a Moral Monday arrestee (and the chair of the Franklin County Democratic Party) Armenta Eaton stood up and put forth a resolution for our 13th Congressional District Convention of the North Carolina Democratic Party to support Moral Mondays.
She spoke of her daughter's arrest. She spoke of women, elderly, minorities, children, sickly, poor; working poor...She basically spoke to my heart's core. It is for these people that I have driven myself to work politically and within the community to make things better for all of them...all of us. She spoke to me. She spoke to the convention. She spoke to the state. She made HKonJ and Moral Mondays PERSONAL.
I agreed with her, clapping, with tears in my eyes and became resolute that I would pray on acting in civil disobedience in the legislative building very soon in my life's future.
As I mentioned before, everything happens for a reason.
I didn't go to the May 20 Moral Monday (two days after the convention).
I made sure I was off of work and my calendar was clear for June 3. Brooke went with me and was so supportive and patient with her activist fiancé. She even considered being arrested with me. Her love and support was enough, though.
We made it to the debriefing and training session at a church in Raleigh just after 3pm. The church was FULL!
There was an attempt made by (what I found out later to be) the NAACP legal team to check everyone in, but there were so many folks that were willing to be arrested. This was "Mega Moral Monday," after all.
I found two friends from Wilson (particularly the Wilson branch of the NAACP, of which I have been and are now a member), Charles Cook and Frank Jones. They are both very close to the Rev. Dr. William Barber who has been the rock, the fire and the calming hand on this growing storm of reaction to the regressive policies of the GOP-led North Carolina General Assembly.
I happened to be standing near Charles and Frank when there was a call for prayer. I was honored to place my hand on Frank's shoulder before saying "Amen," and making my way to the back of the church [remember...it was crowded! :-)]
I stood at the back and listened to the testimonies, the prayers and the instructions for those that chose to practice civil disobedience. Strips of green cloth were passed out to those that volunteered to get arrested. Soon after that, instructions were given that a bus was available to take the "heroes" to Halifax Mall. It would return for all that needed a ride. I met up with Brooke, gave her all my possessions (including my cell phone, wallet, "ASA" hat and buttons), and kissed her goodbye.
After grabbing a bottle of water and eating some almonds before going to the restroom, I ventured outside and spoke with some of my fellow green-banders. I spoke at length with Chip Smith, who had been arrested once before in protest of the death penalty in Pennsylvania in 2000 before moving to the Rocky Mount area. He heard I was from Wilson and told me that he plays bridge at the J.C. Harris Cadillac dealership. It was a calming and emboldening conversation.
The impending arrest was becoming more real to me as the bus pulled up to the stop at Halifax Mall. The driver was kind. He smiled. I smiled and said, "Thank you for the ride." He nodded in appreciation of what we were all about to do.
I made my way out on to the Halifax Mall. I was first met by Olivia Neeley from The Wilson Times back home. Frank Jones had told her that some Wilson folks were there and recognized me from the stage. She interviewed me for the article asking me why I was there and why I was about to be arrested. I told her the story of Ms. Eaton's mother and the call within my soul to be there. I told her that I may be a drop in the bucket, but maybe I or the person next to me might be the drop to make it overflow and bring the change needed for this state, and by influence, the nation.
Soon after that, I found Brooke. I stood with her for a time and listened, cheered and clapped. Then I felt the call.
I wandered to where I thought the green-banded volunteers were to go. I ran into Jake Gellar-Goad, a friend and great Eastern Region Organizer for Democracy North Carolina. He introduced me to his friends Evelyn Paul (already a Facebook friend for me) and Michael Schachter from New Bern. We stood together and listened and watched and then moved to gather in line to enter the GA building.
We gathered two by two to walk in.
I noted (at least in my head...I may have said it out loud) that it was kind of like the animals gathering two by two onto the Ark before the Great Flood (which changed the world). [Mental post note: It is also notable that my thought pairs the word Ark with the word in the wonderful phrase: "The Arc of the Moral Universe is long, but it bends Toward Justice."]
When I met with my mentor and friend on July 4 to discuss the possibility of him being arrested for civil disobedience the following Monday, he revealed to me a vision that he had. He said he envisioned a woman standing with him in the "two-by-two" line. He asked her, "Are you scared?" She responded, "I am." He responded, "Me too."
This reminded me that I was paired with a woman whose eyes I could shield with the evening light angle. I did my best to shield her eyes as we walked in together.
When we got to the General Assembly building, she indicated that she needed to go to the restroom. I tried to help her find one and then she found one on her own. I felt tied to her and lost as I waited for her to return. I realized I was scared without her. She was my partner. I waited for her as long as I could and then I realized that it was time.
The Rev. Dr. Barber asked if there were other folks that wore the green strips of cloth. He encouraged us to move closer to the golden doors of the General Assembly.
We went in. We gathered around the fountain. We sang. We prayed. We cheered.
I looked for my partner and I couldn't make her out in the crowd. I knew she was there, though. I felt comfort in the 149 others that were prepared to be arrested with us. I settled in next to a woman I recognized from a video that was made to oppose the North Carolina Amendment One. I sang and prayed next to her. I felt comfort in numbers.
We sang. We prayed. We cheered. We prayed.
Then General Assembly Police Chief Jeff Weaver made the announcement that we had five minutes to disperse or we would all be subject to arrest.
We continued to sing. We continued to pray. We continued to pray.
Then, one by one (after "one minute" and "time's up" warnings from Chief Weaver), we were led to the elevators in small groups by GAPD and Raleigh (Capital) Police. We were then led to the basement (bowels) of the legislative building and gathered in the cafeteria.
It's at this point that I should point out that GAPD Chief Weaver, the GAPD, the RPD, the Wake County EMS, the Wake County Sheriff's Department and the CCBI treated us with the utmost grace and respect that I could have ever imagined. I thank them for doing their jobs and treating all of us protesters with care.
We were there for about two hours (most of us) as we waited for our name to be called to be led into the next room and the next step of processing.
Along the way, I sat beside two older gentleman who both confessed that they are current Democrats, but former Republicans who agreed that the Republican Party left them behind. I also sat near a gentleman named John Arnold, who as it turned out, was detained/arrested by a group that included his son-in-law who is an officer for the Raleigh Police Department (SWAT team too). I, Bruce Arnold and other fellow arrestees agreed that this was the story of the night! They took pictures that were posed greatly and are sure to be great memories for the family.
As we were moved further along in the seats, a group of very lively, happy women led us in singing of old sixties songs. One woman in front of me was trying to remember the name of one female singer in particular. Carole King was noted, but I was trying to remember the singer of the “Big Yellow Taxi” song with her. I kept thinking Joan Collins, but we both remembered Joni Mitchell around the same time.
They loaded us onto inmate transfer buses in groups of 25. Once they got us to the bottom, we walked out into the loading area and we heard chants of "Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!" along with great cheers from the group that remained assembled after a terrible storm was unleashed onto the city.
On the way to the Wake County Detention Center, we stuck our zip tie cuffs out the windows and sang "This Little Light of Mine," along with some other songs that we had sung inside the General Assembly building.
When we got to the detention center, we were ordered on benches, searched one by one and our possessions were placed into our envelopes that were set up at the General Assembly. In lieu of a body cavity search, they had a chair we sat on to determine if we had metal hidden in our bodies. A rolling of our face on a mark on the top of the chair determined if we had metal in our mouths/faces.
After this, it was a waiting game. It was a long waiting game. Our bus arrived at the detention center at around 8:45 or so.
I had great conversations with doctors, pastors, professors, retired individuals (such as Bruce Alexander). I was very grateful for the wisdom and comradery that I received from those that chose to be arrested on the same day as me.
We cheered those that moved into the next room that was the City-County Bureau of Identification (CCBI) when their name was called.
I did not get in to the CCBI room until about ten 'til 4am. We were interviewed about our name, address, occupation, etc. and then our prints and mug shots were taken. My mug shot (attached here on my poster) wasn't taken until 4:15am.
I finally saw the magistrate with those that would be the final four with me just before 5am. Lawrence, Robert, Carlton, thank you for keeping me together in that final hour.
I walked out on my own written promise to appear in court at about 5am. Most of the well-wishers had left. It was a long night for the processing of 151 + people. Those that remained, though, were fellow arrestees, the NAACP NC Conference legal team and Senator Earline Parmon. Senator Parmon was so kind and so proud of all of us. I was quite amazed that she was there at 5am to welcome the final four out.
She is a fine example of a representative that cares about all North Carolinians. Her colleagues have a lot to learn from her!
Having no cell phone and having not set up a ride to get back to Wilson (about an hour away), I set off for downtown Raleigh with the hopes that I could find a pay phone and make a collect call home and get Brooke to come pick me up. I walked about 3 miles towards Raleigh and I came across a BP station. The owner wasn't there yet. I tried my parents' number. They had collect calls blocked. I tried Brooke's Mom's number. She accepted my call. Brooke was there and made plans to come get me.
In the meantime, the News & Observer had been delivered to the store. I opened it up and scanned the headline and read the article about Moral Monday. Then I re-bound the papers and walked to the edge of the parking lot when the owner arrived. Not too long after I had set up the arrival of Brooke to take me home, the owner of the BP kicked me off his property and told me he couldn't have me sitting there like that. It was a slap in the face, but that's life.
Brooke arrived about an hour and a half later and I was on my way home to Wilson with her. I told her about the night and the sights I had seen and the sounds I had heard. I told her about the wisdom of my fellow arrestees and I realized that this was the absolute right time, right place and right action to take. I was grateful to be back in Wilson with Brooke and enjoy a breakfast before I finally slept at 10am. I was home.
On June 17th, on our way to Halifax Mall when we returned to Moral Mondays, I ran into Pastor Lawrence Womack, who was one of the final four released from the Wake County Detention Center on June 3, along with Pastor Robert Hood and Pastor Carlton Eversley and me (Preacher's Kid). The joy I saw on his face and the joy I felt inside were incomparable. I wondered if this was how the "Brothers in Arms" from the Dire Straits song felt when they saw each other alive again.
I introduced him to Brooke and I shook hands with another fellow arrestee from Pastor Womack's county, Pastor Williard Bass. I wished them peace and Godspeed and we passed along with smiles on our faces and love in our hearts.
When we returned to the area across from where they loaded the inmate transfer buses after the rally, I found one aspect to be telling of the whole HKonJ and Moral Monday/Witness Wednesday movement.
You see, there's one aspect of my history that I'm leaving out. My Dad is the Rev. Henry Duval "Greg" Gregory IV. That indicates history just by his name. Our story spans back a few more generations that are peppered with pastors, theologians and servants within the Presbyterian Church (USA) faith.
When Toussaint L'Ouverture was leading the Haitian Revolution that would lead to the independent nation of Haiti, my family was a family of sugar planters on the island of San Domingue.
When Toussaint's right-hand man, General Dessalines, led the violent portion of the revolution, my family was murdered, first with the head of the household being poisoned. The whole family succumbed to death, except for a boy named Caspar Ramsey Gregoire.
He encountered a former family slave in the streets of Port-au-Prince. Instead of killing him, the family slave negotiated his passage on a boat piloted by Captain Jones. Captain Jones delivered Caspar to Philadelphia, where he was taken in by a Presbyterian family. We have been Presbyterian ever since.
As I have argued in a Senior Religious Studies seminar at East Carolina University, "...we are, by debt, pacifists."
It was also telling that I ran into my friend David LaMotte, who told me that he had been arrested the week before. He also informed me that his father was being arrested this time. David and his father come from the Presbyterian Church and I am so proud of both of them for standing in their faith against the cruelness of this GOP-led regressive legislation.
He told me he had never been more proud of his father with a huge, peaceful smile on his face. That rings true.
When I was carried off in a bus, I heard "Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!" Two weeks later, when I returned to support the heroes, we chanted "Thank You! We LOVE You!"
That's the essence. That's the spirit. That's why I was arrested on June 3.
If these NC legislators understood that, we wouldn't be practicing civil disobedience and gumming up the court calendars with our physical petitions of grievance.
UPDATE: Armenta Eaton's 92-year-old mother, Rosa Nell "Rosie" Eaton, decided that she had had enough and was arrested earlier tonight on June 24, 2013.
She is inspiration enough for the continuation of the FORWARD TOGETHER movement (she inspired me!!!)! :-)
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