Rocky Mount NAACP/HKonJ To Hold News Conference and Meetings with Community Leaders to Discuss the State of Emergency and Moral Crisis Produced by the NC Legislature’s Budget Passed Last Week

Rocky Mount Branch

Immediate Release

8 June 2011

Contact:  Rev. Andre’ Knight, President, Rocky Mount Branch of the NAACP, 252-544-2949

Mrs. Amina J. Turner, Executive Director, 919-682-4700

Atty. Jennifer Marsh, Legal Redress Coordinator, 919-682-4700

Rocky Mount NAACP/HKonJ To Hold News Conference and Meetings with Community Leaders to Discuss the State of Emergency and Moral Crisis Produced by the NC Legislature’s Budget Passed Last Week.

The Rocky Mount Branch of the NAACP and Historic Thousands on Jones Street (HKonJ) People’s Coalition will participate in the “North Carolina: A State in Emergency Action Tour” on Thursday, June 9 at 10 AM in the parking lot of the Fairview Early Childhood Center at 720 N. Fairview Road. Simultaneous news conferences organized by the NC NAACP will occur across North Carolina. The General Assembly voted for a budget last week that was developed by the ultra-conservative, radical Tea Party-backed leadership in the General Assembly and has been identified by multi-racial and multi-faith voices across the state as bad, regressive and harmful for children, minorities, women, the poor and vulnerable communities in North Carolina.

"Thirty-one State Senators and seventy-three House Representatives, mostly Republicans and including five Democrats who play a key role in making the budget veto-proof for now, betrayed the people of North Carolina and voted one of the worst budget in North Carolina’s history–it takes us backwards in education, backwards in economic justice, backwards in human services, backwards in healthcare," said Rev. Dr. William J Barber, President of the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP. "This week, we are launching our "North Carolina: A State in Emergency Action Tour” across the State to bring the bad news of a bad budget to the local communities who these legislators are supposed to represent demanding we can do better.

We are concerned that outside of Raleigh, the media and local representatives are not getting the information on the consequences of this budget.

We have held many events in Raleigh to address the issues. Now we want to bring the information to the local level. We believe once our NAACP/HKonJ network learns how out of touch the Legislative Majority is with the people of North Carolina, they will know how to challenge their representatives in General Assembly from the grassroots.”

Grassroots leaders and community members will detail why we believe the Governor should veto the budget, why our legislators should follow their conscience and sustain the Governor’s veto and why, if passed, the budget would take all of North Carolina backwards. Speakers will also identify other regressive legislation being pushed by the right-wing, such as repealing the Racial Justice Act, voter suppression bills and direct attacks on immigrant children in our public schools.

###