On August 18, low-wage workers, clergy and advocates from across Alabama will gather outside Senator Tommy Tuberville’s Montgomery office as part of a coordinated 12-state protest condemning what organizers have dubbed the “Big, Bad, Ugly, Deadly, Destructive Budget Bill.”
The demonstration, set for 12:30 p.m. at Annex 1 on Church Street, will include prayer, testimony from impacted families, and the symbolic delivery of caskets to represent Alabamians who organizers say may die as a result of deep cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and rural healthcare funding.
“This is a moral emergency, not a partisan squabble,” said Bishop William J. Barber II, architect of the Moral Mondays movement and co-leader of the campaign. “If Congress will not listen in Washington, we will bring the cries of the people straight to their hometowns, face to face. Lawmakers must reckon with the moral consequences of their choices, not behind closed doors in D.C., but right here among their constituents.”
The action in Montgomery is part of a broader campaign called A Southern Call to Conscience, taking place during the August congressional recess in 12 Southern states: Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Florida, Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, West Virginia, North Carolina and Virginia. Organizers say the coordinated actions are a direct response to the July passage of the federal budget, which they characterize as “the largest-ever legislative transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich.”
“Alabama is the sixth poorest state in the nation,” said Reverend Carolyn Foster. “I am organizing clergy, advocates, allies, and impacted people because we can’t sit back and be silent when the most vulnerable among us are violated by the big, ugly bill.”
Organizers cite data suggesting more than 800 people die daily from poverty in the United States, and project that number could rise by at least 51,000 annually under the provisions of the recently passed budget. Those hardest hit, they say, will be children, seniors, people with disabilities and low-income families in rural areas.
Moral Mondays first launched in April 2025 in Washington, D.C., and the Southern protests mark the movement’s expansion into local congressional districts. The initiative draws on the tradition of Moral Fusion Organizing from the First and Second Reconstructions, with faith leaders and grassroots groups now calling for a “Third Reconstruction.”
The Montgomery protest is organized by Repairers of the Breach, with Bishop Barber at the helm. National partners supporting the movement include Indivisible, the National Urban League, Masjid Muhammad, the National Council of Churches, the National Council of Jewish Women, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the AME Zion Church, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Presbyterian Church USA, the United Church of Christ, the Ohio Council of Churches, the North Carolina Council of Churches, Red Letter Christians, AM Kolel, Franciscan Action Network, OBRA Hispana, Hood Theological Seminary, Neighborhood Folks, Foundry United Methodist Church, and Sojourners.
Organizers say they won’t stop until Congress reverses course and prioritizes healthcare, housing and human dignity over corporate profits and military expansion.
