On a Monday in April of 2013, 17 people walked into the General Assembly in Raleigh, NC, and asked to speak to legislative leaders, as was their right under the NC Constitution. They were arrested and charged with trespassing (in a public building, while it was open to the public).

They wanted to talk about health care, education, workers’ rights, voting rights, reproductive rights, the climate crisis and more, but instead they were arrested. The next Monday, 24 people were arrested, and the Monday after that, 49. During the course of that summer, about 1,000 people walked into the General Assembly Building and asked to speak to lawmakers and were arrested.

Before we began, few people new about the dirty tricks the GOP majority was playing with our rights and finances, but by the end of the 13 weeks, we had gotten national attention. We sent Gov. Pat McCrory home, as well as some lawmakers who thought they were safe from defeat. They had gerrymandered voting districts so that they would remain in the majority, even going so far as to split traditionally Black colleges down the middle of campuses to dilute their voting power.

Meanwhile, the majority of those arrested demanded a trial, refusing to plead guilty. We clogged up the Wake County court for seven months before the first of us to be convicted got the case against all of us thrown out.

It was a mighty coalition of partners — unions, houses of worship, nonprofits and advocacy groups. We came by the thousands, even the tens of thousands.

We sued the state over their voter suppression laws, and we won, although they would immediately go back and try again.

This week, hundreds of people came from across the state to protest the lack of funding for the victims of Helene in Western NC, and the cynical attempt to steal power from those the people of this state elected to lead us. It’s a coup and it has to be stopped.

Senate Bill 382 is 132 pages, only 10 percent of which deal with storm relief, and they appropriated no new money for relief. Instead, they moved some money around and set it up so it can’t be used until at least February.

There’s more. SB382 is a raft of bad ideas, stealing power from the governor, placing oversight of elections with the State Auditor, a Republican, who, by the way, never asked for the responsibility. Furthermore, this arrangement would be the only one like it in the nation.

So, we’re putting together the old coalition with some fresh new faces, and we’re back.

Monday’s rally saw hundreds come from across the state, demanding a moratorium on evictions in storm-ravaged areas. People’s places of work are still closed two and a half months after the storm and they have no income to pay their rent. When you add in all the people living in campers or with relatives because of damage to their homes, you have to wonder why the General Assembly would refuse to help the people they’re supposed to be representing.