MONDAY: Local Clergy & Leaders March at Rep. Tim Moore’s Offices in Gastonia To Condemn Deadly Reconciliation Policies
The demonstration is part of a new phase of Bishop William Barber’s Moral Monday movement, which has captured national attention for its massive demonstrations against Congress’ morally-bankrupt reconciliation bill. On Monday, local leaders will deliver a casket to the office of Rep. Tim Moore to represent the lives in North Carolina that will be lost as a result of 307,000 residents losing Medicaid.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Monday, July 14, clergy, advocates, and people harmed by the newly-passed reconciliation bill will lead actions at the district offices of Southern members of Congress in eleven states – including the Gastonia office of Rep. Tim Moore– to condemn Washington for codifying our nation’s largest-ever legislative transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich. Demonstrators will deliver caskets to represent the North Carolinians who will likely die as a result of the healthcare cuts in the big, deadly bill.
Event Details:
National Media Contact: repairers@brysongillette.com | 215-828-9628
Local Media Contact: Pastor Joel Simpson | jsimpson@wnccumc.net | 828-604-5238
WHAT: Leaders will hold demonstrations at 10 local congressional offices, with a flagship event in Memphis, TN.
WHEN AND WHERE:
- July 14, 2025, 11:00AM
- Gathering outside Gaston County Courthouse
325 Dr M.L.K. Jr. Way, Gastonia, NC 28052 - Followed by short walk to Rep. Tim Moore’s office
WHO: Folks impacted by the Congressional budget, faith & moral leaders, and advocates
Whether in person or online, your presence matters.
Link: https://breachrepairers.org/get-involved/events/moral-mondays-in-dc/
Memphis Livestream: https://www.breachrepairers.org
Monday’s demonstrations mark the launch of a new phase of Bishop Barber’s Moral Monday movement – which has included a diverse coalition of clergy, moral leaders, and advocates. For weeks, the group led major demonstrations at the nation’s Capitol to expose lawmakers’ plans to use the reconciliation process to harm poor and vulnerable communities. Demonstrators, including Bishop Barber, were arrested several times.
The state-level demonstrations – in Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina – signal a new phase of the Moral Monday movement. The campaign is getting out of DC and going directly to the people – the organizers, community leaders and everyday working folks who continue to be the source of real political power in this country.
In the years and months ahead, Bishop Barber and his partners plan to organize leaders across the South to mobilize communities and spearhead rallies, sit-ins, and civil disobedience efforts. Ultimately, they strive to build a movement that drives policies that support and uplift impacted communities.
“Everyone that they hurt with this bill, we will organize,” said Bishop William J. Barber, II, President of Repairers of the Breach – a national movement-building organization that works to support moral leaders who uplift our deepest moral and constitutional values to redeem the heart and soul of America. “Through Jim Crow, the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, and beyond, history has consistently taught us that the poorest and most marginalized communities have a profound ability to create change – even when the future seems the bleakest. Today is no different. Yes, lawmakers have succeeded in codifying one of the most morally-bankrupt pieces of legislation in our history. But in doing so, they’ve laid the groundwork for a movement that is truly by and for poor and working class people. If we mobilize just a fraction of these people, we can transform our nation’s entire landscape.
Pastor Joel Simpson of First United Methodist Church in Taylorsville explains: “This budget is a massive harm to poor and low-income people all around NC. Experts say 307,000 people will lose Medicaid. Impacted people are upset. I’ve talked with people whose parents are in nursing homes, parents who are caring for children and aging parents at home. I’ve spoken with a former law enforcement officer who is now on disability and depends on Medicaid and SNAP themselves while also caring for aging parents.”
He goes on to say: “Congress cannot pass this budget and simply wash their hands of the harm and suffering it will cause. Jesus blesses the poor, but Congress is cursing them. People know this is policy murder. We clergy will be doing the funerals of those who die because of this budget.“
Bishop Barber furthered, “It’s no accident that we’re launching the next phase of our campaign in the South – one of the poorest, most economically unjust regions of our country. Many progressive organizers are wary of putting resources towards the area because of its deeply-baked inequities. But we will not neglect these individuals, who have been ignored and put down for far too long. Together, we will draw from the legacies of our most fervent, effective civil rights leaders and create one of the most powerful moral movements our nation has ever seen.”
Moral Mondays are organized by Repairers of the Breach, under the leadership of Bishop William J. Barber, II. Joining Repairers of the Breach as organizing partners are Indivisible, the National Urban League, Masjid Muhammed, the National Council of Churches, the National Council of Jewish Women, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the AME Zion Church, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Presbyterian Church USA, the United Church of Christ, the Ohio Council of Churches, Red Letter Christians, and Sojourners, and is supported in North Carolina by the NC Poor People’s Campaign.
Print Press Release: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ojKq-tJ62_wCklzLSlvFXNfWyg3b_nBr/view
Recent Comments