While Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate between Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was a notably civil and issue-focused affair, Christian supporters rallied online for their preferred candidates and, more often, attacked the opposing candidate. The debate…
Bishop Barber denied disability accommodations at AMC theater in North Carolina, escorted out by police
The day after Christmas, minister, social activist and former chair of the North Carolina NAACP Bishop William J. Barber II was asked to leave an AMC movie theater in Greenville, N.C., after being told he could not sit in a…
Fear drives Christian nationalists, William Barber says
Christian nationalists oppose the teaching of Black history and Critical Race Theory out of fear the subjects could spark compassion for marginalized people, civil rights leader William Barber II said during a radio show hosted by Interfaith Alliance. “The forces…
Moral Mondays are taking up residence in Jackson to fight water crisis
Bishop William J. Barber brought his Poor People’s Campaign and Moral Mondays to Jackson, Miss., Sept. 26 to protest a notoriously neglected and broken water system that has generated hundreds of boil advisories in the last two years alone and…
Poor People’s Campaign marches on Texas Capitol with demands for voting rights
A civil rights demonstration at the Texas State Capitol July 31— that included country music legend Willie Nelson and former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke — was intended to warn Americans about the dangers of nationwide voter suppression efforts and to…
Poor People’s Campaign plans a march in Texas to protest restrictive voting legislation
The Poor People’s Campaign and its high-profile and charismatic leader, Bishop William J. Barber II, will lead a “Selma-to-Montgomery style” march in Texas this month to protest Republican-led efforts to limit voting rights in the state and around the nation….
America needs a ‘third Reconstruction,’ Barber tells new administration
America needs a “third Reconstruction,” William Barber II said in a homily at the virtual inaugural prayer service for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris hosted by Washington National Cathedral on Thursday, Jan. 21. “Reconstruction” refers first to…
William Barber: 100 million eligible voters did not participate in the 2016 general election
Churches must help rally marginalized voters to reverse America’s political and moral decline, activist Bishop William J. Barber II said during the Alliance of Baptists’ online fall gathering Oct. 10. “Galvanizing poor and low-income voters isn’t an act of charity,…
What if Americans go looking for spiritual renewal and our churches are too troubled to help?
I find myself in awe of the clergy and laity offering frontline care of souls in response to COVID-19, lovingly creating ministry alternatives, even from a distance. While these acts of selflessness are themselves a dramatic sign of spiritual renewal, sobering trends confront America’s churches.