Alive Black American Hero: Rev. William Barber
A Fierce and Powerful Human Rights Fighter in Our Current Struggle
William J. Barber II (1963-Still Alive)
A Current Outstanding Human and Civil Rights Leader.
Protestant Church Minister. Director at Yale University Divinity School. Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign. Board Member of the NAACP.
Reverend Barber is one of our greatest Black American Heros who is still alive and fighting strongly for civil rights, equity, and justice for people of all races, especially for very needy people. He is a hero who we today can join in with a campaign he leads to achieve more economic equity with the other members of our society. The Poor People’s Campaign announced in 2024 that they are launching the campaign to register 15 million new voters to vote for 2024 political candidates who will promote economic equity for all U.S. residents.
He was born in Indiana but moved along with his family to North Carolina during his kindergarten years and participated in the dangerous desegregation of the public school system there. Rev. Barber was elected president of the local NAACP youth council at the age of 15, and two years later became student body president of his integrated high school. He received a Bachelor’s degree from North Carolina Central University in 1985, a Master’s from Duke University in 1989 and a Doctorate degree from Drew in 2003. Although currently stricken with an uncurable spine disease, Rev. Barber works daily for civil rights, economic equity, and justice for all people.
In 2016, he delivered a speech at the Democratic National Convention which was described as rousing and was well received. In 2017, Barber announced he would step down from the North Carolina state NAACP presidency to lead a new national campaign entitled Poor People’s Campaign, promoting a nation for economic equity for all people. In 2021, Barber called for a "season of nonviolent direct action" to bring attention to threats to democracy in the U.S. He was arrested alongside hundreds of others in Washington, D.C., on August 2 in a peaceful protest for voting rights and higher wages.
In early 2024, in Washington, DC, at the National Press Club, the Poor People’s Campaign, under the leadership of Barber and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, announced their plans for a mass mobilization of 15 million poor and low-wealth voters nationwide ahead of November’s election. The campaign is planning simultaneous actions on March 2, 2024, at over 30 state capitols to launch “the campaign and highlight the policies being promoted in state political administrations across the country that are hurting the poor or distracting from addressing the real issues facing poor and low-wealth people. The targeted states include Alabama, Arizona, California, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and West Virginia.
Truly and thankfully, we have an outstanding Black American Hero currently working diligently among us! Thanks Rev. William Barber II!!
A Factoid: Yes, Hitler killed 6 million Jews in Germany. But did you know that King Leopold II of Belgium killed over 10 million Black African people in the Congo?