Advocates rallied in downtown Jackson earlier this week for "Moral Monday” - a monthly call to action for Southern faith communities to speak out against the Trump administration's policies.
Dozens of activists in Jackson say the fight for social safety nets has become urgent. They gathered in downtown Jackson’s Smith Park for the rally - calling out the harm they say the “big, beautiful bill” will cause.
Shamira Muhammad
"Moral Monday" rally is attended by Rev. William Barber
Advocates carried two wooden coffins a few blocks from the park to Republican U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith’s downtown office. They carried signs that declared that the beautiful bill represented policy murder. According to the activists, up to 34,000 Mississippians could lose Medicaid coverage.
The rally was held by the national organization, Repairers of the Breach. The organization’s leader, Reverend William Barber, met demonstrators as they arrived in front of Hyde-Smith’s office building. He quickly demanded that decorative flowers be taken off the caskets.
“I don't want to put the flowers because we don't want to make it cute,” Barber said. “Ain't nothing cute about folk dying from policy murder.”
Rev. Barber was joined by civil rights leader Frank Figgers and other clergy members from around the state. They prayed that Senator Hyde-Smith and Senator Roger Wicker would reverse course on their support of the beautiful bill.
Shamira Muhammad, MPB News
Shamira Muhammad, MPB News
Shamira Muhammad, MPB News
Shaquana Hayes, who lives with Lupus is a mother of three who spoke at the rally. She relies on Medicaid to pay for medication and is scared that new work requirements may cause her to lose coverage.
“I have several medications that I take every day on a daily basis, some of them twice,” Hayes said. “It's a monthly need for me to have medications to take daily. If I'm not taking it, I'm going to die. It's not just an impact, it is a life or death situation for me.”
Protests were also held around the state last week in response to recent comments made by Sen. Wicker.
Senator Wicker was the keynote speaker at the Gulfport Chamber of Commerce’s legislative luncheon earlier this month. In a video posted to social media, he’s heard responding to a question about whether his office receives calls or emails from constituents.
“I get a list, and these guys can tell you this, I get a list every day of everybody that sent me an email or a letter, and I go through and... Check some names and that's it, give me that letter. So we get them, we respond to a lot of them, but I go through the list every day…. Get a life.”
Protesters including Romaine Richards, a Jackson resident, interpreted the comments as a harsh commentary against activists, many who have been calling, emailing and writing to the senator since January.
“When I heard it, I was really offended,” she said. “I can't imagine, that's not something you joke about. I mean, how can you tell people to get a life when they're trying to live their lives the best that they can with all the things that are going on in the world, and for him to be so dismissive, it's an insult.”
In a statement, Sen. Wicker’s office says that the comments heard in the video were not meant to be offensive. In fact, the statement says, “when he said "get a life," he was referring to himself.
Several activists delivered letters to Wicker’s office during last week’s demonstration. Protests were also held in Tunica, Biloxi, Oxford and Starkville.