Moral Monday: Week 6, June 10, 2013. Photo by Noah Read.

The Humble Vale Becomes A Mountain

The People of North Carolina Fight for the State They Love

The first and only time I moved away from the state of North Carolina, I was a new college graduate and an intern at a non-profit in Charleston, South Carolina. My just-a-few-years-older-than-me boss mentioned that people from North Carolina have a strange sense of pride for their state. I replied by saying that was weird, since North Carolina was a “Vale of humility between two mountains of conceit.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought you’d say. That’s what everyone from North Carolina says.” Four months later I moved back to the Tar Heel state.

Celo Mountain, Burnsville, NC. Photo by Elizabeth Read.

When prompted, it isn’t hard to think of my favorite places in this beautiful state, you could say it’s even harder to narrow it down. Whether it is blueberry picking on the side of Celo Mountain, or trying to decide which is the best barbecue restaurant, or being proud that I live in the city that is responsible for the mass-production of pimento cheese. But I’m not a native, and I didn’t grow up going to my grandparents house in another part of the state in a town named after my great-great-grandparents.

I love our state, but as a non-native I’ve been hesitant to join in the essay writings that my friends have about what makes this state great. I moved to North Carolina in 1980s with a whole lot of other folks as part of a large migratory wave. This influx of outsiders took Charlotte from being a town that outsiders couldn’t remember which Carolina it was in and transformed it to a World Class City (oh, wait). And these days, I’m still coming to terms with having pride in where I live. I hesitated writing this piece and wasn’t sure whether it fit into a theme about what makes the state great. These days, for it’s not only the places or the food or the experiences that I love about North Carolina — it’s what North Carolinians are doing.

My son and Rev. Barber, the leader of the Moral Monday movement, at a rally in Greensboro, NC in April 2013. Photo courtesy Noah Read.

These past few months, I’ve had more pride in my fellow North Carolinians than I ever have before. I’ve always had strong opinions about my own political beliefs, but an even greater belief that you should be involved in your own community. That voting matters. That the volunteers that serve on the Water Board are important. That getting to know your own community through public service makes you a better citizen and improves more than just the mission of a specific organization, it improves your entire life.

In the past legislative year, some bills that I strongly disagree with have been passed by the North Carolina General Assembly. Despite these proposals, I’m not despairing completely over our state’s future just yet. Because people that I know, and even better, people that I haven’t met yet, have decided to get involved. They are finding out who their state senator and representatives are, they are signing petitions, going to local meetings, and attending Moral Monday protests. People are starting facebook pages to inform people of what is going on and writing essays discussing facing their activism fears. My friends are on the front page of the paper. Friends of friends are running for office. There are kids creating events fighting climate change and other residents singing songs. There are events happening in the Mountains, Piedmont and the Coastal Plain. People are taking their activism home from the Halifax Mall and back to their own communities. My beautiful friend Virginia is inspiring people to write essays about what they love about our state. This entire dang essay could be hyperlinked because so many people are doing SOMETHING.

Photo courtesy Mitchell Price from the July 29, 2013 Moral Monday.

So yeah, we may be a vale of humility, but right now, I see people making signs to say why they love our state, protesting our government in the hot sun and getting arrested, and speaking to relatives about issues they disagree about. I love our state, and most especially, the people that make it up. I especially love that they have cast off that vale of humility, are taking pride in the whole great state of North Carolina, and are standing up to fight for what they believe in.