Watertown Citizens and Massachusetts Peace Action strongly supports the start of Massachusetts Moral Mondays at the State House this Monday, September 12. This social justice political action is modeled on the work of Rev. William Barber and the NAACP in North Carolina. The rally will be led by Massachusetts clergy and by people affected by Moral Monday key issues which include for example, affordable housing, criminal justice reform, and the Fight for $15.
MAPA and dozens of additional social justice and peace groups are called to provide 800 supporters to gather on the Common across from the State House at 10:30 AM on Monday, Sept. 12.
A representative group will meet with the Governor to deliver the Higher Ground Moral Declaration, which calls on governors, legislators, and candidates for office to move away from extremist politics and policies that benefit the few and to move toward policies that ensure a better life for the majority and especially for the marginalized.
Similar events will happen at the same time on Sept. 12 in 26 states across the country. The organizers will have signs for us so that the message will be co-ordinated across the states.
Organizers include the Boston Chapter of the NAACP, Bethel AME Church, the Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry, City Mission, the Jewish Labor Committee, First Parish Bedford, Mass Interfaith Worker Justice, and others.
Sign the Higher Ground Moral Declaration, http://www.moralrevival.org/signmoraldeclaration, which states that “we claim a higher ground in partisan debate by returning public discourse to our deepest moral and constitutional values”. It is inspired by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s April 4, 1967, address- “Beyond Vietnam: a Time to Break Silence”, which was both anti-war and pro social justice. As Rev. Barber notes in his book The Third Reconstruction, Rev. King had realized how military spending is connected to the lack of funding for essential domestic spending- 50 years ago!
Please TURN OUT FOR THIS IMPORTANT ACTION: Monday, Sept. 12, gathering at 10:30 on Boston Common across from the State House. The vision is that Moral Monday pressure from social justice groups on our state reps and the Governor will become a fixture on Beacon Hill. Let’s make this first one spectacular and a portent of things to come!