http://www.hkonj.com

Quote :

"The fourth annual HKONJ is scheduled for February 13, 2010. More than 5,000 people gathered on Jones Street in Raleigh Feb. 14, 2009 for the third annual massive People's Movement in support of a Progressive Agenda. So far, more than 80 organizations have joined together and thousands marched and rallied in support of a 14-point agenda."

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/group.php?gid=8916370189

Here's a few looks at the previous years:









It is a coalition of various, but somewhat overlapping, progressive citizens, causes, and groups.

It happens this Saturday Feb the 13th at 9:30am until noonish.

2/10/2010 3:08:32 AM

The longer this recession goes on and the longer the budget shortfalls exist, the less people are going to be willing to listen to groups like this. Their 14 points read like a tired litany of civil rights points from 20 years ago and reflect a fundamental lack of understanding of the current fiscal situation both in NC and in the nation as a whole.

2/10/2010 8:02:08 AM

I went to their website and couldn't see any real description of the group's cause until I found a tucked away link to their 2008 flyer. Seems like another group that was originally formed to fight racist policies, and is now fighting to remain relevant.

2/10/2010 9:44:08 AM

^I would say evolving with the times rather than fighting to remain relevant. It is a great chance for a lot of networking and creating energy for the different progressive causes out there. I think that it has grown with the times and involves a broader coalition and builds allies is a strength, not a weakness.

Quote :

"1. All Children Need High Quality, Well-Funded, Diverse Schools 2. Livable Wages and Support for Low-Income People 3. Health Care for All 4. Redress Two Ugly Chapters in N.C's Racist History 5. Expand and Improve Same Day Registration and Public Financing of Elections 6. Lift Every HBCU 7. Document and Redress 200 Years of State Discrimination in Hiring and Contracting 8. Provide Affordable Housing and Stop Consumer Abuse 9. Abolish Racially-Biased Death Penalty and Mandatory Sentencing Laws; Reform our Prisons 10. Environmental Justice 11. Collective Bargaining for Public Employees and Worker Safety 12. Protect the Rights of Immigrants from Latin American and Other Nations 13. Organize, Strengthen and Provide Funding for Our Civil Rights Enforcement Agencies and Statutes Now 14. Bring Our Troops Home from Iraq Now "

Si Se Puede!

2/10/2010 1:30:56 PM

Quote :

"1. All Children Need High Quality, Well-Funded, Diverse Schools yet teachers unions oppose pretty much any attempt at accountability 2. Livable Wages and Support for Low-Income Peopleyou can print money, you can't print value 3. Health Care for Allneat-o, this has been covered before 4. Redress Two Ugly Chapters in N.C's Racist HistoryOne of these events occurred in 1898. I'll gladly prostrate myself in front of anyone who was alive for the 1898 Wilmington event. I'm completely OK with the attempts to compensate forcibly sterilized women. 5. Expand and Improve Same Day Registration and Public Financing of Electionsnot informed enough on this one 6. Lift Every HBCUWhy? What makes a historically black college any more worthy than any other college in the UNC system? If we're going to "Redress 200 Years of State Discrimination (point 7), let's start with this right here 7. Document and Redress 200 Years of State Discrimination in Hiring and ContractingTo what end? Right now government contracting actively discriminates in favor of minority owned businesses. 8. Provide Affordable Housing and Stop Consumer Abuseok, the Federal Government needs to quit attempting to prop up housing prices, allow the values to fall, set up "quickie" bankruptcy court, and let people move on economically 9. Abolish Racially-Biased Death Penalty and Mandatory Sentencing Laws; Reform our Prisonsvage, but has potentially good arguments 10. Environmental Justicevague, how about enforcing property rights, that would go a long way 11. Collective Bargaining for Public Employees and Worker Safetyahh, nice, government employees don't need another excuse to offer shitty customer service without fear of termination. 12. Protect the Rights of Immigrants from Latin American and Other Nationsok, illegal immigrants are definitely abused and INS does a shitty job of enforcing the law, a lot could be done here but probably not what they want 13. Organize, Strengthen and Provide Funding for Our Civil Rights Enforcement Agencies and Statutes NowIs institutional discrimination in the State Government really that pervasive? 14. Bring Our Troops Home from Iraq Now you do realize that the NC government has no control over this whatsoever"

2/10/2010 5:34:27 PM

I agree that not all their points are correct or perfect, but a part of coalition building is that people you agree with more than half the time are allies not enemies. You mentioned some points were vague, here is a slightly more detailed version:

Quote :

" THE PEOPLE'S AGENDA: 14 POINTS 1. All Children Need High Quality, Well Funded, Diverse Schools. NC must meet its Constitution's requirement of adequate and diverse schools by fully funding Leandro with transparent accountability and creating special leadership teams in its failing schools. (Video clip and detailed text) 2. Livable Wages and Support for Low Income People. NC ought to provide livable wages, make sure no person goes hungry and that everyone in need has affordable, accessible childcare. (Video clip and detailed text) 3. Health Care for All. NC ought to provide its people with health insurance and prescription drugs, while funding public health programs to treat social diseases that plague Black and poor communities including HIV/AIDS, diseases caused by environmental pollution and warming, drugs, domestic violence, mental illness, diabetes, and obesity. (Video clip and detailed text) 4. Redress Two Ugly Chapters in N. C.'s Racist History: The overthrow of the bi-racial 1898 Wilmington Government and the sterilization of poor, mainly Black, women from 1947-1977. NC must implement its 1898 Wilmington Riot Commission recommendations and pay damages to the poor women it forcibly sterilized. (detailed text) 5. Same Day Registration and Public Financing of Elections. (Video clip and detailed text) 6. Lift Every HBCU. NC must financially support our Historically Black Colleges and Universities to develop equitable infrastructure and programs with doctoral-level leadership for today's challenges. (Video clip and detailed text) 7. Document and Redress 200 years of State Discrimination in Hiring and Contracting. NC must commission historical documentation of its contracting practices with racial minorities to justify constitutional redress. (Video clip and detailed text) 8. Provide Affordable Housing and Stop Consumer Abuse. NC must provide an Affordable Housing Trust Fund for low-income renters, vouchers for wounded veterans who can not find accessible housing, meaningful tax breaks for seniors forced out of their homes, and protection against predatory lending and foreclosures. (Video clip and detailed text) 9. Abolish Racially Biased Death Penalty and Mandatory Sentencing Laws; Reform our Prisons. (Video clip and detailed text) 10. Put Young People to Work to Save the Environment and Fight for Environmental Justice. NC must establish an Environmental Job Corps for young people who did not graduate from high school to re-engage them in public service. NC must fight all forms of environmental injustice. (Video clip and detailed text) 11. Collective Bargaining for Public Employees and Support Smithfield Workers Right to Unionize. NC must support the right of Smithfield workers in Tar Heel to form a union and work in a safe environment, and support collective bargaining for public employees. (Video Clip and detailed text) 12. Protect the Rights of Immigrants from Latin America and other Nations. NC must provide immigrants with health care, education, workers rights and protection from discrimination. (Video clip and detailed text) 13. Organize, Strengthen and Provide Funding For Our Civil Rights Enforcement Agencies and Statutes Now. (Video clip and detailed text) 14. Bring Our Troops Home from Iraq Now. NC cannot address injustice at home while we wage an unjust war abroad. (Video clip and detailed text) "

I realize those links don't work when I repost it here, but if you go to hkonj.com and just search on the page for "14-point People’s Agenda" you'll find the link to where I found it. I'd provide the link directly if I could, but the way it navigates, it is still just hkonj.com

2/10/2010 5:53:06 PM

looks like socialists

if they want to win in a free america they can start by stopping some things:

-welfare (but look at who these people are)
-public schools (COMPETITION!)
-printing endless dollars
-regulation
-taxes
-passing more laws that are against socialist organizations like unions, get rid of them, its not natural
-not teaching free enterprize instead of "civil rights" which has alwats been for handouts and welfare

2/11/2010 1:22:30 PM

alright, i don't live in NC anymore, but to the learned libertarian above:

Quote :

"Collective Bargaining for Public Employees and Worker Safetyahh, nice, government employees don't need another excuse to offer shitty customer service without fear of termination."

1. You do realize that NC is the only state that has actual laws against this? Every other state allows it specifically through stated law or by virtue of not passing laws specifically against it.
2. Hyuck Hyuck stupid people work at DMV! This is what state employees do!
3. States with better public services, better economic indicators in general, do not have this law in place. It by no means is what creates a good economic environment somewhere, and it's actually against a number of international agreements on labor, but who gives a shit what anyone outside the American right thinks.

Shit, even kooksaw has recognized that this is an issue of fairness.

2/11/2010 1:30:55 PM

It all goes down tomorrow. I imagine that displeasure with the way the new school board has been running things, and with Apex going all anti-abortion is going to help fuel some attendance. Like all things political, since it isn't a presidential election year, I don't think will be a record breaking attendance, but I would be surprised to see 2 to 4 thousand people show up. And WRAL says "we are anticipating dry and bright weather" for tomorrow. And sunny weather or the lack there of can make or break a rally.

2/12/2010 9:42:15 AM

Quote :

" 1. You do realize that NC is the only state that has actual laws against this? Every other state allows it specifically through stated law or by virtue of not passing laws specifically against it."

We get it bro; you love your unions.

Progressives what a joke....

While i do not agree with progressives as long as they keep harping on the "ZOMG NC hates blacks" I will never even consider them with any seriousness.

2/12/2010 9:50:51 AM

Quote :

"Bring Our Troops Home from Iraq Now. NC cannot address injustice at home while we wage an unjust war abroad."

I didn't realize that NC was waging any war.

2/12/2010 10:15:21 AM

http://www.eacwebservices.com/hkonj2010/downloads/Directions%20to%20Shaw%20Raleigh%20Campus.pdf

http://www.eacwebservices.com/hkonj2010/2010RouteMap2.pdf

2/12/2010 11:13:21 AM

why dont people like this work for money and not walk up and down the street shouting for handouts? its no btter than homeless people?

END TAXES and that money will make JOBS!

2/12/2010 1:36:11 PM

Question: How do you expand same day voter registration, bring our troops home, protect civil rights, and protect the environment?
Answer: END TAXES!

That is seriously the GOP cure-all.

2/12/2010 1:50:48 PM

Earlier today WRAL was saying tomorrow would be sunny and with highs in the 40s, now they are saying tomorrow may have some flurries and will have a high in the 30s.

Quote :

"HK ON J URGENT MEDIA ADVISORY MEDIA ADVISORY FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 12 February 2010 Contact: Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, President, 919-394-8137, naacpbarber@gmail.com Mrs. Amina Turner, Executive Director. 919-682-4700, execdirnaacpnc@gmail.com Mrs. Debra Tyler-Horton, HK on J Coordinator, 919-856-2169, debra@ncjustice.org HISTORIC THOUSANDS ON JONES STREET PEOPLE'S ASSEMBLY RESCHEDULED TO SATURDAY, FEB 27TH"

2/12/2010 6:47:24 PM

The reschedule date has arrived. It happens at 9:30 am Saturday at Shaw University in downtown Raleigh.

"Highs in the upper 40s-50" according to WRAL, so the weather looks better this time than last time they tried it.

[Edited on February 27, 2010 at 1:45 AM. Reason : .]

2/27/2010 1:44:50 AM

what does the "HK" and "J" stand for?

2/27/2010 12:10:19 PM

^Historic Thousands on Jones Street

You can tell they're cool because they abbreviate Thousands as K.

2/27/2010 12:48:08 PM

Progressives have also taken to the streets in Greece.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/feb/26/our-own-greek-tragedy//print/

Quote :

"We hard-hearted, small-government guys are often damned as selfish types who care nothing for the general welfare. But, as the Greek protests make plain, nothing makes an individual more selfish than the socially equitable communitarianism of big government. Once a chap’s enjoying the fruits of government health care, government-paid vacation, government-funded early retirement, and all the rest, he couldn’t give a hoot about the general societal interest. He’s got his, and to hell with everyone else. People’s sense of entitlement endures long after the entitlement has ceased to make sense."

3/1/2010 3:37:38 PM

I wish I had known.

3/1/2010 5:47:24 PM

Since when is it unjust to liberate a country from a genocidal dictator?

Also interesting to note that their manifesto says nothing about gay marriage. I imagine they couldn't sneak that past their "progressive" African-American leadership.

[Edited on March 2, 2010 at 9:44 AM. Reason : ]

3/2/2010 9:39:49 AM