ALEXIS TEASDELL | STAFF WRITER
Hundreds of people will gather in Downtown Raleigh this weekend to participate in the 6th annual Historic Thousands on Jones Street march (HK on J) at Shaw University. Each year various community organizations gather to march for social change and equality. The march usually attracts many students from across the United States such as Spelman College and Howard University to name a few, due to the fact that the event is sponsored by the National branch of the NAACP. Alumni, college students and more come together to promote change in our community. The event is a time for participants to unite through song, spoken word, and food.
The HK on J march has a 14 point people’s agenda for North Carolina, that includes the following:
14 Points
• All Children Need High Quality, Well Funded, Diverse Schools.
• Livable Wages and Support for Low Income People.
• Health Care for All.
• 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.
• Same Day Registration and Public Financing of Elections.
• Lift Every HBCU. The NAACP wants North Carolina to financially support Historically Black Colleges and Universities to develop “equitable infrastructure and programs with doctoral-level leadership for today’s challenges.”
• Document and Redress 200 years of State Discrimination in Hiring and Contracting.
• Provide Affordable Housing and Stop Consumer Abuse.
• Abolish Racially Biased Death Penalty and Mandatory Sentencing Laws; Reform our Prisons.
• Put Young People to Work to Save the Environment and Fight for Environmental Justice.
• Collective Bargaining for Public Employees and Support Smithfield Workers Right to Unionize.
• 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.
• Organize, Strengthen and Provide Funding For Our Civil Rights Enforcement Agencies and Statutes Now.
• Bring Our Troops Home from Iraq Now. NC cannot address injustice at home while we wage an unjust war abroad.
HK on J is a tradition in North Carolina and is something that many have cherished over the years.
