What is HKonJ or the Moral March?

HKonJ Youth Assembly 2016

From the NAACP’s website, “The HKonJ Coalition holds an annual mobilization called the Moral March on Raleigh & HKonJ People’s Assembly. It has grown to approximately 80,000 in 2017! Each year, on the 2nd Saturday in February, thousands of HKonJ marchers flood downtown Raleigh, NC where the HKonJ People’s Assemblyconvenes and ultimately marches to the North Carolina State Capitol.”

Youth Assembly

2018 Post-HKonJ Youth Convening

For the past several years, YOI has co-convened HKonJ youth gatherings and organized the youth contingent at the Historic Thousands on Jones St. demonstration and rally. In the past, we’ve held sign-making sleepovers so folks travelling from hours away could rest and unite before the march.

In 2015,  we hosted the first-ever NC’s #BlackLivesMatter Youth Assembly where over 300 students and youth from across the state convened to uplift shared issues, build solidarity, and fight back.

The pre- and post-HKonJ events and programming are an opportunity for young folks to connect, build a better understanding of each other’s work, and established a share youth agenda for the state of North Carolina.