This Saturday, People For the American Way and affiliate People For the American Way Foundation’s Young People For members joined the estimated 80,000-100,000 progressives from across North Carolina and around the country in the biggest civil rights march in the South since Selma.

Saturday’s Moral March on Raleigh brought together the most diverse coalition of individuals our state, perhaps our country, has ever seen: young, old, black, brown, white, faithful, agnostic, atheist, documented, undocumented, gay, straight, bisexual, transgender.  People from all walks of life marched together – from students and activists to lawyers, healthcare professionals, and teachers.

YP4 Fellow and UNC student Omar Kashef joined the rally “to be a part of a larger movement of forward thinking North Carolinians working to build a better, more progressive future.” YP4 Fellow Jazmin Medoza-Sosa marched to use her voice “to stand up for [her] parents, siblings, and those who are unheard.” PFAW members joined as grandmothers “embarrassed by what they have done to our state” marching for their grandchildren and our future, as disabled Vietnam veterans committed to continuing their service, and as dozens of other concerned North Carolinians determined to “take back our North Carolina.” And movement leader Reverend William Barber II, a member of PFAW’s African American Ministers in Action, marched to “inaugurate a fresh year of grassroots empowerment, voter education, litigation, and non-violent direct action.”

While the day started off chilly and gray, spirits were running high, and by the end of the rally—as the masses committed to mobilizing their communities on election day and linked arms to sing We Shall Overcome—the sun had emerged to warm everyone’s way home.

Though every one of the tens of thousands who showed up Saturday brought their own motivation and carried with them their unique vision for a more progressive state that takes care of all of its own—not just those with the money to buy political influence—the power born of the Moral Monday movement will ensure North Carolina truly does move forward together, not one step back!