Dickinson College’s Clarke Forum hosted an event on Thursday, November 20, featuring Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, president, and senior lecturer of Repairers of the Breach and director of the Center for Public Theology & Public Policy at Yale Divinity School. Barber is also known as the NYT best-selling author of “We Are Called to Be a Movement” and his latest book, “White Poverty: How Exposing Myths About Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy.”
The event began with a montage of different videos from Barber’s previous speeches, rallies and even
his sermons during worship services, where he calls those around him to fight for individuals in their communities who cannot do so for themselves. Then Barber began with a passage from Jeremiah 6:13, “Everyone’s after the dishonest dollar, little people and big people alike.”
Barber further emphasized that poverty extends beyond a marginal issue. He addresses how the current administration has hidden their lies under the disguise of a “The Big Beautiful Bill” that declares that resources like EBT and Medicaid are victims to waste fraud and abuse. As Barber continued his speech, he continued to elucidate that poverty and struggle have been fed to the public as a race or minority issue by the elites in order to further division. He discussed lifting the veil of this illusion of a race war intended to distract from the more monumental ongoing class war.
Barber then touched on the topic of immigration and how in this current political climate how hostile and inhumane the attitude is towards this group of people. He then draws on his biblical knowledge again and quotes Matthew 25:35, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me in.”
The use of biblical language may seem odd to some; however, this serves as a crucial part of Barber’s message, as it is a way to show that the current societal approach we have is not working and that for centuries, the solution has been in front of us and has not changed.
In Barber’s closing, there was a particular question raised by an audience member that really brought my thought process full circle, enlightened and encouraged me to take every morsel and fiber of what Barber had preached and digest it slowly. A young woman asked him how we as people can have an impact and how to answer this call to action. Barber replied by verbalizing the importance of starting small in your own communities, creating intentional spaces where people tell the truth and encouraging each other to branch out and to make real change.
Overall, Barber not only spoke with such conviction and divinity but a realness that encouraged me to answer this call to action, but what will you do when the time comes? Will you answer the call, or will you let the line go cold?
