SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
william barber
William Barber Joins 1,000+ Faith Leaders in Endorsing Harris
"My choice is to oppose the dangerous politics that Trump and the MAGA movement have unleashed by supporting the ticket that can defeat this potential for American fascism," Barber said.
Oct 27, 2024
Bishop and Poor People's Campaign co-chair Rev. William Barber II joined more than 1,000 religious leaders on Sunday in endorsing U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris for president over former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Other prominent faith leaders who have signed on to the endorsement include Rev. Kevin R. Johnson of New York City's Abyssinian Baptist Church; Rev. Teresa L. Smallwood, vice president and dean of academic affairs at North Carolina's United Lutheran Seminary; and the Rev. Andrea C. White, who teaches theology and culture at New York City's Union Theological Seminary. Barber and the other leaders offered their endorsement in their personal capacities and not on behalf of any congregation or institution they are affiliated with.
"In a moment like this, I am compelled to be clear that every voter must make a choice, and my choice is to oppose the dangerous politics that Trump and the MAGA movement have unleashed by supporting the ticket that can defeat this potential for American fascism," Barber wrote in a statement explaining his endorsement on social media.
"I'm endorsing Harris and Walz because we are in the midst of a crisis of civilization and democracy."
Barber gave several reasons for his opposition to Trump, including the former president's frequent lies, embrace of guns, inflammatory anti-immigrant statements, and economic agenda that favors the wealthy over the poor and marginalized. In particular, he blamed Trump for undermining the strong economy he inherited from former President Barack Obama by giving massive tax cuts to the wealthy while refusing to raise the minimum wage
"I must oppose Donald Trump and his policies of catering to the greedy, attacking healthcare, and working against living wages," Barber wrote.
He also alluded to Trump's violent rhetoric, such as his recent threat to deploy the National Guard against his political enemies if elected.
"I must prophetically oppose Trump's candidacy because he is threatening to use the office of the president for retaliation and destruction and refers to himself as the only answer to the troubles of America, which is a form of idolatry," Barber said.
In contrast, Barber said he was endorsing Harris and running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz because they "are seeking to speak truthfully about the issues of our nation, and, at the same time, to lead us toward a way of working together on issues that matter."
In particular, Barber praised their economic agenda, such as their commitment to increasing wages and expanding healthcare access. He also said they would offer equal protection to all U.S. residents and tackle the climate crisis.
"I'm endorsing Harris and Walz because we are in the midst of a crisis of civilization and democracy," Barber said. "We don't need more despotism. We must work together for a Third Reconstruction."
Barber, a North-Carolina based preacher and organizer, has criticized both parties for failing to address the needs of poor and low-income voters and mobilized those voters to make the parties heed their concerns. In early October, he blasted the presidential and vice presidential debate organizers and the candidates for not addressing the causes of poverty or offering in-depth solutions. He also joined a vigil outside the White House calling for a cease-fire in Gaza last fall.
"I am not endorsing Harris and Walz because I believe they are perfect," Barber wrote in his statement. "No person of faith should ever do that. I don't endorse them because I agree with them on every issue. I am endorsing them because I, like every American, must make a choice about who will lead this nation and set our public agenda for the next four years."
Barber further explained his decision to CNN.
"There's no middle ground when it comes to fascism," Barber said. "I've got to be clear as an individual and hope that other moral and religious leaders will do the same."
Speaking on the issue of Gaza policy specifically, Barber told CNN that he thought a Harris administration would be easier to negotiate with than a future Trump one.
In his statement, he said he believed Harris and Walz's "commitment to diplomacy offers the best chance of a lasting cease-fire in Gaza and averting wars that will consume untold resources and precious lives."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Here's How Democrats Can Beat Trump and the GOP in November
With less than a month to go before the November 5 election, Democrats should ignore the consulting profiteers and fully embrace popular policies.
Oct 13, 2024
Wouldn’t you think the Republican Party, that is as gung-ho for Empire and Genocide as the Democratic Party, but domestically is blatantly open about its policies against women, children, workers, the environment, climate crisis, public lands, public education, and fair share taxes for the wealthy, would be easy to defeat? Not when you see how the Dems, whose campaigns are controlled by corporate-conflicted political consultants using corporate campaign cash, keep making the election razor close.
In 1988, the formidable spouse of Senator Pat Moynihan—Elizabeth Moynihan—told me “Ralph, these consultants are destroying the Democratic Party,” right after she fired them and took over managing Pat’s last re-election campaign.
Elizabeth Moynihan’s observation is true now more than ever, as corporate money looms gigantically over all elections with no limits on how much these PACs can spend.
Still, with three and a half weeks before November 5th, the Party of the Donkey can lighten some of its self-imposed burdens and prevail in congressional races and the presidential race.
First, Bibi-Biden and Bibi-Blinken have to end their serfdom and stand up for American interests. Tell Netanyahu to stop dissembling, agree to a ceasefire in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon, and open up Gaza to all those thousands of U.S.-funded humanitarian aid trucks with food, medicine, water, and other critical supplies. Tell him to open up occupied Gaza to American reporters—along with Israeli and other nations’ journalists—prohibited from independently reporting the realities of the genocidal destruction of that Palestinian enclave and its dying 2.3 million people. Otherwise, no more U.S. weapons of mass destruction, no more vetoes at the U.N., and no more arm-twisting other critical countries. These just and proper moves could be vote-getters in swing states.
Second, give the media vote-getting authentic commitments to benefit millions of voters. A serious commitment to a living wage would move millions of low-paid workers to vote.
Raise Social Security benefits, frozen for over 50 years. This would get the attention of 65 million elderly (See the Social Security 2100 Act, a bill introduced on July 12, 2023, by Congressman John B. Larson and Senator Richard Blumenthal).
Demand with specifics the raising of taxes on the wealthy. This taps into the 85% of the people backing such a decision.
Crack down on corporate crooks, with specific illustrations on how they harm daily lives and livelihoods. This issue comes in with heavy left-right support.
Respect the millions of midnight shift workers who keep our society going while we sleep. Campaign before midnight shifts at hospitals, factories, all-night stores, police, and fire stations.
The few Democratic operatives who approve the strategies, tactics, and messaging are notoriously tone-deaf, defiantly incommunicado to citizen group input—activists who know how, what, and when to communicate to all workers, consumers, patients, and parents, regardless of their labels. (For effective elaborations, see winningamerica.net).
The Dems have huge amounts of money and when used to pay for ads, often vacuous and irritatingly repetitive, these consulting profiteers reap 15% commissions. More of this money should be used for an advanced ground game of locating voters, persuading them, transporting them to the polls if need be, and festively celebrating with a snack or supper. Australians, where voting (for anyone) is a civic duty, are known to make voting a joyous social occasion.
Massively assailing Trump for his lawbreaking, his lies, his bigotry, his corruption, his delusions, his incitements to violence, voter suppression and precinct worker harassment does not seem to diminish support from his base. Why not concentrate laser-like on getting out more of the 80 or 90 million non-voters, instead of pushing off the ballot and harassing the small Green Party with frivolous suits and political bigotry?
Many of these non-voting eligible voters are low-wage workers. Listen to Rev. William Barber who says just increasing their vote by ten to fifteen percent from 2020 would win the election. Few people have interacted with as many impoverished Americans as has Rev. Barber. Even fewer can match the details and inspirations of his oratory. (See, breachrepairers.org).
The media covers the horse race—give them more horses. They cover the money raised—tell them you’re using it for people-to-people voter turnout behind explicit progressive mandates. The media covers spontaneous comments that magnify as faux pas—give them spontaneous statements that mean something—like increasing the number of federal cops on the corporate crime beat.
Or support the expanding interstate compact of states that gives the anti-democratic Electoral College votes to the candidate who wins the national presidential vote (See, NationalPopularVote.com).
Or why not support more consumer cooperatives, or repeal handcuffs on union organizing and expression embodied by the notorious Taft-Hartley Act of 1947?
The media gets bored with the same old stump speech day after day. Give them some variety that invigorates a democratic society. Especially tell them ways you would empower the powerless people to overcome corporatism, apathy, indifference, and withdrawal from elections and politics. These could be short educational addresses on TV.
Above all, open up electoral campaigning to regular input by the citizenry and citizen groups from the grassroots to Washington, D.C. Drop the force fields around you, Nancy Pelosi, Gary Peters, Suzan DelBene, Pete Aguilar, Jaime Harrison, Et al. None of you are smarter than all of us. Ignoring that truism is why you will be needlessly sweating on election night. (See my book “Let’s Start the Revolution: Tools for Displacing the Corporate State and Building a Country that Works for the People” and the report, “Crushing the GOP, 2022.”)
Keep ReadingShow Less
William Barber Says Presidential Debates 'Failing' the Poor
"We should really be talking about how to abolish the majority of poverty, because we know what would happen if we did have serious living minimum wage and healthcare," Barber said.
Oct 03, 2024
William Barber, a bishop and co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign, said in an interview published Thursday that U.S. presidential debates, and the race more broadly, was "failing" the poor, whose needs and concerns he said aren't being addressed.
About 38 million people in the U.S. live in poverty, roughly 11.5% of the population, as determined by the federal government. PPC says that one-third of the electorate, or 85 million people, are poor or low-income.
"We're talking about poverty that is not an anomaly among one group of people. But in fact, is across the country, in every community, in every city," Barber told USA Today. "We should really be talking about how to abolish the majority of poverty, because we know what would happen if we did have serious living minimum wage and healthcare."
Both @KamalaHarris & @realDonaldTrump say they want to represent working people. Why not accept @RevDrBarber’s challenge to debate the causes of America’s exceptional poverty & the policies that could end it. https://t.co/TIjUvOof0O
— Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove (@wilsonhartgrove) October 3, 2024
PPC was inspired by a 1968 movement of the same name organized by Martin Luther King Jr. and led by allies after his assassination. They set up a 3,000-person protest camp on Washington Mall in the spring of that year, staying for six weeks.
Barber, a Black pastor and political organizer from North Carolina, was among those who led the relaunch in 2018—Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for a Moral Revival—which started with demonstrations in Washington, D.C., and at statehouses across the country.
Barber, who recently wrote a book about white poverty, has said that there's a "deafening silence" on the part of the media with regard to economic justice in the U.S.
Barber told USA Today that the debate moderators, as well as the presidential and vice presidential candidates, have failed to address it. He said Tuesday's vice presidential debate should have featured a question on a living minimum wage.
"To not have that as a major question and drill it down and make these candidates answer the question is a failing, we believe of the debate system," Barber said.
The current federal minimum wage is $7.25, set in 2009. Barber has frequently expressed outrage that Congress hasn't acted to raise it in the last 15 years.
In 2021, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) moved to raise the minimum wage to $15, via an amendment to the Covid-19 stimulus package, but all 50 Republican senators and eight members of the Democratic caucus voted it down.
Barber noted that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, raised the need to expand the child tax credit and for affordable housing in the debate, but said the moderators should have explicitly asked about the needs of poor people.
"I think there's a great failure of the press, of those who planned the debate, and even the politicians themselves, for not putting millions of people at the center of the political debate," Barber said.
Barber in fact recommended a reform to the debate format in which nonpartisan experts lay out facts on an issue before candidates speak—and people who are affected by an issue, rather than professional moderators, ask the questions.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular