A few times a week these days I get a call or email from friends around the country who all ask me the same question: so, what’s happening down there in North Carolina?

I’ve taken to telling them that the Civil Rights Movement is getting born again.

Most of them have read a news story or seen coverage of protests against the extremist takeover of NC government in the past year. (If you have an hour, Bill Moyer’s “State of Conflict” is probably the most informative intro.)...

I wrote a report for Sojourners Magazine last summer, briefly chronicling how a coalition led by a dynamic African-American preacher began to organize seven years ago for Historic Thousands on Jones Street.