Moral Mondays and the Defense of Public Education: The Fusion Movement Against ALEC-Influenced Legislation in North Carolina

On a muggy southern summer Monday afternoon, with thunderstorm clouds looming in the not-so-distant horizon, thousands of adults, teenagers, and children; men and women; black, white, and brown; straight and gay; doctors, teachers, fast-food workers, and day laborers; preachers, pastors, and rabbis all gather at the mall outside of the North Carolina State Legislative Building. Teachers don bright red T-shirts inscribed with the words “Educator Activist: Unite, Organize, Empower.” Protesters hold signs reading, “Public tax dollars need to go to public schools,” “All of us can’t protest ’cause most of us have second jobs,” and “Public education is under attack! Stand up, Fight Back!” As has been done every Monday of the 2013 and 2014 legislative sessions, the crowd engages in call-and-response with the lineup of clergymen and clergywomen, grassroots organizers, and everyday citizens speaking at the podium: “Forward Together. Not one step back.”