• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
NC Council of Churches

NC Council of Churches

Strength in Unity, Peace through Justice

Get Involved Donate
  • About
    • Overview
    • Staff
    • Members
    • Covenant Partners
    • Statements
    • Board
    • Careers
  • Voices
  • Our Priorities
    • Partners in Health & Wholeness
      • The PHW Collaborative
      • Focus Areas
    • Eco-Justice Connection
      • Faith
      • Advocacy
      • Energy
      • Environmental Justice
      • Food
      • Global
      • Health
      • Resiliency and Restoration
    • Racial Justice
      • Confederate Monument Removal
      • Reparations to Restoration
    • Criminal Justice Reform
      • Cash Bail Reform
      • Death Penalty Abolition
    • Gun Violence Prevention
    • Workers’ Rights
      • Paid Sick Leave / Paid Family Leave
      • Raising Wages
    • Overdose Response
    • Legislative Advocacy
    • Healthcare Justice
    • Farmworkers
    • Public Education
  • In the News
    • NCCC in the News
    • Press Releases
  • Events
  • Resources

Search NC Council of Churches

Calling for Freedom

July 20, 2015 by Jennie Belle, Former Immigration and Farmworkers Director

A few weeks ago, I, along with the rest of the nation, celebrated our nation’s independence. Last week I, along with thousands of North Carolinians, also attended the Mass Moral Monday March for Voting Rights in Winston-Salem. At the rally there was also much talk about freedom, especially the freedom to vote,​ as the trial of North Carolina’s voting laws begins.

“[The passage of HB 589] was a racist attack on our sacred right to vote, a right that was won with blood and the lives and souls of martyrs throughout the south,” proclaimed North Carolina NAACP President Rev. William Barber.

Over the past few weeks I have thought a lot about freedom and what it means to live in a democracy. I believe that we do not live in a democracy unless all citizens have the right to vote.

July 7 through 11 happened to be the National Week of Action to End Family Detention. As I thought about this, I was reminded not only of the way that voting laws have been used in the past and present day to disenfranchise black and brown communities, but also about our immigrant brothers and sisters, children and parents​, who have fled violence and abuse in their home countries and are now mentally and physically suffering in inhumane detention centers. For example, earlier this month 250 children were given an overdose of the Hepatitis A vaccine at the South Texas Family Residential Center. This demonstrates the gross neglect of care in these detention centers that these families experience on a daily basis.

Just as human rights are being violated among undocumented Latinos and Latinas in detention centers in Dilley and Karnes, Texas, human rights are also being violated among the documented minority communities right here in North Carolina. Voting rights are human rights,​ and we need voter protection laws for communities of color. The Mass Moral Monday Voting Rights March made me proud and hopeful to see the resilience and courage of the people of our state, which is necessary to overcome any immoral act whether it be voter suppression or detention of families. There are many in our state and nation who are not yet free,​ and I hope and pray that our elected officials will realize that human rights deserve to be recognized everywhere.

Filed Under: Blog, Homepage Featured Tagged With: Elections, Human Rights, Immigration, Race/Ethnicity

About Jennie Belle, Former Immigration and Farmworkers Director

Jennie was born and raised in Savannah, GA. She moved to Texas for her undergraduate education at Rice University, during which time she studied in Mexico, Peru and Argentina and participated in service projects in Central America. After graduation she moved to Spain for a year to teach English. Jennie then came to North Carolina for a dual degree MDiv/MSW graduate program at Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill where her work focused on advocating for farmworkers and organizing churches for social justice. Recently graduated, Jennie is excited to use these skills in her role at the Council of Churches as she works to help improve conditions for immigrants and farmworkers in the state.

Jennie lives in Durham and attends First Presbyterian Church. In her free time she enjoys dancing, distance running, traveling, walking her dog, and planning her upcoming wedding. Jennie can be reached at: jennie@ncchurches.org.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Footer

Contact

NC Council of Churches
27 Horne St.
Raleigh, NC 27607
(919) 828-6501
info@ncchurches.org

Subscribe

Click here to subscribe to newsletters and blog updates.
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2023 NC Council of Churches · All Rights Reserved · Website by Tomatillo Design · Hosted by WP Engine