Somehow I ended up standing next to James Andrews, President ofthe AFL-CIO and Rev. William Barber II as we sang Solidarity Together.

Attending Moral Mondays in Raleigh this past Monday on June 24 was an incredible experience.  I’m pretty sure my husband, Michael Galovic got tired of me agonizing for days about whether to do civil disobedience.  I even called several folks I knew who had done it in previous weeks – The singer, activist David LaMotte, my friends Greg Yost and TJ Amos were among them. I don’t do well in situations where I have to “think on my feet” because my brain processes information slowly now so it takes me a while to make a decision.  For this reason, I always try to figure out things beforehand.  It is pretty impossible to plan how an action is going to go so I knew it would be difficult for me.  My friend, LisaRose Barnes, was wonderful though. She drove us the four hours there and then stayed with me much of the time to help me navigate the huge crowds and loud noises.

In order to do it, I brought my ear plugs so I could “rest my brain” when necessary.  I wore them for the entire rally outside in front of the building beforehand.  Below is a picture of me sitting on a ledge with my ear plugs in, “resting my brain.”  I’ve stopped feeling silly when I do this in public now.  I figure if anyone wants to ask me why I do this, I’ll tell them.

I really do have a problem with overstimulation though. I understand that many brain injury survivors do but it seems like I have more problems with it then others I know.  Admittedly, this event was crazy for anyone but at times it was unbearable for me. During the rally inside, I had put my ear plugs in my pocket and since my hands were cuffed at the jail, I couldn’t get to them.

As luck would have it, when we were waiting to be processed, I was seated next to a woman who has done many actions so she knew how to sing during them.  She led us in song, after song, after song, after song.  So much for “resting my brain!”

Look at the crowd behind me in the picture above!  It was unbelievable.  Rev. William Barber II is an incredible preacher.  I plan to write another post which includes links to two of those videos but I think it’s time for me to stop writing just now.

The picture on the right is of me right after getting out of jail.  It was almost ten o’clock which actually wasn’t too bad.  My brain function seems to be getting better and better as time goes on so perhaps in five years I’ll be able to spend the entire night in jail.

This experience reminded me of when I visited Terry Mincey on death row in Jackson, Georgia.  Prisons and jails are horrible, demeaning places.  It’s no wonder folks are released with broken souls.