Santa Fe Among State Capitals to Hold Rally on National Moral Day of Action

Rev. William Lyons (photo Kay Huggins)

On Monday, September 12, more than 70 people gathered at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe to urge the New Mexico State Legislature, Gov. Susana Martinez and candidates for office to emphasize that our budget is a moral document and should give a priority to the needs of the disenfranchised in communities around the state.

The group in Santa Fe joined coalitions in Boston; Washington, D.C.; Raleigh, N.C.; Springfield, Ill.;Madison, Wis.; Carson City, Nev., and dozens of other state capitals for the National Moral Day of Action to advance a moral public policy agenda that responds to the urgent needs of the poor, people who are ill, children, immigrants, communities of color, and religious minorities.

The groups that gathered on that Monday were all part of  fusion coalitions created with the help of  Rev. William Barber, founder of the Forward Together Moral Movement and president of the NAACP chapter in North Carolina. Rev. Barber came to Albuquerque in June to help facilitate conversations around the creation of a fusion coalition in New Mexico.

(Photo: Kay Huggins)

Diverse Group of Clergy in Santa Fe
The rally in Santa Fe was sponsored by Interfaith Worker Justice-New Mexico, the New Mexico Conference of Churches (NMCC), New Mexico Interfaith Power & Light and the Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-New Mexico. More than two dozen other organizations, including Bread New Mexico, endorsed the event.

The rally included a diverse group of clergy from around the state, touching on many of the issues that affect New Mexico. According to Rev. Kay Huggins, interim executive director of the NMCC, the more than 70 people who gathered at the Roundhouse included 40 ordained members of the faith community, representing the United Methodist Church, Disciples of Christ, Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church USA, Metropolitan Community Church, and Mennonite Church.

Rev. William Lyons, Southwest Conference Minister for the United Church of Christ, was the opening speaker. Others who joined in were Rev. Dr. Keith Wilkes of Portales (Democracy and Voting Rights), Rev. Steve Wiard of Taos & Rev. David Rogers of Carlsbad (Poverty and Economic Justice), Rev. Dr. Holly Beaumont of Santa Fe (Workers Rights), Father Richard Murphy of Santa Fe (Education), Rev. Lorelei Kay of Gallup (Healthcare), Rev. Chan Osborn de Anaya of Navajoland & Farmington (Environmental Justice), Rev. Antonio Aja of Santa Fe (Immigrants' Rights and Xenofobia), Rev. Steve Voris of Carlsbad (Criminal Justice), Rev. Judith Maynard of Albuquerque ( LGBTQ Rights) and Rev. Todd Wynward of Taos (War Mongering and the Military).  KRWG TV/FM had a nice write-up ahead of the rally.

Here are some tweets/pictures from Health Action New Mexico 

During our #MoralDayofAction the clergy spoke in solidarity about the need to fully fund Medicaid. #NoMoreCutsNM pic.twitter.com/p7RlbUwJew

— HealthActionNM (@HealthActionNM) September 12, 2016

A powerful #MoralDayofAction in New Mexico. #nmleg #nmpol pic.twitter.com/BqD4nFf1MF

— HealthActionNM (@HealthActionNM) September 12, 2016