- Photo by Jordan Lawrence
- NC Music Love Army
NC Music Love Army
Kings, Raleigh
Monday, July 29, 2013
By all accounts, this week’s “Moral Monday” demonstration was the largest yet. After three months of chanting and singing and praying in Raleigh’s Halifax Mall, after more than 920 arrests—mostly doled out to protesters who have refused to leave the N.C. General Assembly’s chambers when asked—a crowd of several thousand filled the outdoor space to once again decry the actions of the state’s lawmakers. Led by the state NAACP, they affirmed their determination to fight on by marching down to Fayetteville Street, stopping in front of the Capitol building for more chanting and singing and praying.
A couple hours later, a smaller crowd packed inside the nearby Kings Barcade. The NC Music Love Army, a loose but fiery assembly of local musicians who aspire to be “the soundtrack to the Moral Monday movement,” were set to play their first official show. They’d hosted an open rehearsal, and they’d performed at “Moral Monday” and on the radio, but this would be the first time they’d play songs for a paying audience—with all money raised being donated to the NAACP legal defense fund, which will defray the costs incurred by arrestees from the protest, a nice little bow tying all of this up.
But the problem is that none of this is really tied up yet. The actions of this legislative session—slashing public education funds, restricting abortion rights, limiting access to the ballot—are still in place. The crowd at Kings was revved-up and ready to keep fighting, but will they still feel so inspired on Nov. 5 when the Army plans to releases their EP of original protest songs? Can those tunes keep them simmering until the next November, when they’ll have the chance to vote out the politicians that instigated their outrage?
