A movement model for progressives

One of the most frustrating things about today's progressive activism is how atomized it is. Until the various parts of the movement come together on common ground, little will change. Here is one important exception to today's progressive culture

Katrina vanden Heuvel, Washington Post - The Moral Monday movement began on April 29, 2013, when [Rev. William] Barber organized a peaceful protest at the statehouse in Raleigh, where he and 16 others were arrested for refusing to leave. Since then, the movement has grown exponentially, with thousands of supporters participating in Moral Monday protests at the Capitol and around the state. Last year’s Moral March attracted an estimated crowd of 80,000 to 100,000, making it the largest racial justice rally in the South since the Selma-to-Montgomery march in 1965. And the movement has expanded into several other states, including, most recently, Illinois.

Barber didn’t know he was launching a national movement when he staged the first protest in Raleigh. Yet Barber’s stand against “regressivism on steroids,” resonated with people and inspired them to join him. “It didn’t even have a name, the first Moral Monday. We just merely decided to stand up to all the extremism,” Barber told Politico in July. “Nobody can say they thought this would go on for two years. The spirit of it took over. And what we found was people were waiting for an opportunity to raise their moral voices and engage in civil disobedience.”