If a few thousand of us can stop a bill to give guns to teachers from getting passed, imagine what 20,000 of us could do. We are the country that had a reconstruction movement and then had a violent, meanspirited regression. He has fought tirelessly to end poverty and the "interlocking injustices of systemic racism, ecological devastation, the war economy, and the distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism.". If you get rid of unfair practices, the prophet says. General assemblies should read the names of children killed needlessly by assault weapons. This is the debate were going to have to have. Barber and faith leaders also released an initial outline of a document they call "The Nashville Principles." Historic site and monument. var contentListProps = { Or the millions of poor and low-income people who havent voted in years because they havent seen anyone who represents their interests. William Barber II speaks at a Poor People's Campaign event near the Statehouse in Raleigh, North Carolina, March 28, 2022. We wont commemorate. [4] And yet, Barbers diagnosis of the diseases that threaten American democracy deftly navigated history, narrative, and language to call for a shift in the moral narrative of the country without blaming the patient. If we want to come out of this jam and move forward together, we cannot accept the racial disparities, violence, and breaches that impact Black, brown, Native and Asian Americans while offering collateral damage to our poor white brothers and sisters and ultimately our entire democracy. With Moral Mondays, Barber has channeled the pent-up frustration of North Carolinians who were shocked by how quickly their state had been transformed into a laboratory for conservative policies. The protests have inspired. NTM4NDAwZDdlMTI4Zjk0MWZmODcyZTY3ZWY5Zjc2ZWM1NmZmZTA4ZjdmZWE0 v3Styles: true, It is the truth Aretha Franklin pointed to when she sang. Jim Wallis and Rev. He is 58 years old. showMobileImage: true, I have a responsibility to challenge him. I mean, Jesus is very clear. Everything we won, people had to start winning in the midst of opposition that looked like it was overwhelming. showMobileImage: true, Al Drago/Raleigh News & Observer/Tribune News Service, via Getty Images. Du Bois is at a loss to answer in The Souls of Black Folk: How does it feel to be a problem?[6] A strange experience indeed. Having said that, it is also important that we ask, Where does healing come? Together, across race, age and background, we brought the issues and extremism plaguing our nation to light, and we called out policy murder not only through inaction of guns, but also because of the denial of living wages, healthcare, and voting rights. On April 17, I marched with thousands of faith leaders, impacted people, and students in a funeral procession to the Tennessee Capitol. We need all elected officials, regardless of party affiliation, to stand together to reclaim democracy. Then, repair the breach. Are you adamant about the baby having food and education? Service photo Ville de Grenoble. But when we looked closely at what it takes to make it in the US today, we found that 140 million people are poor and low income. All Rights Reserved. Even what we saw happen at the Capitol two weeks ago is the results of a long historya politics of division that was cynically named positive polarization by those who thought they could use it for their own political advantage. Lets take it there. Magazines, Digital And what a day it will be when our childrens children call us what you have called us to be: repairers of the breach. LIVE: Tennessee Moral Monday | Bishop William Barber and the Repairers of the Breach'Death from guns, death from poverty, death from denial of healthcare, an. Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights. NjNjYmYifQ== And we understand that, because they cant debate us on the issue. The Old Bishop's Palace Museum. She sang, Somebodys hurting my sister, and its gone on Far too long, we responded. It has always taken fusion movements to bring about real change. Magazines, what we saw happen at the Capitol two weeks, Or create a free account to access more articles, 'We Must Have a Third Reconstruction.' I was with a group of folks, and I asked him: Have you ever even read the Bible? In this critical moment for the life of our children and our democracy, its important to remember that moral fusion movements taking nonviolent direct action have stopped extremism in our nations past and have the power to do it again. NjlkYjg5ZDQ2ODBlZDEwNzk0OGVhNjIxZDdhMzUyYzI3NzNmNTU5ODM2ZDg4 Oliver ContrerasThe Washington Post/Getty Images. We dont know what this democracy would look like with a full vote. I never want to have health insurance and see other members of the human family denied, he says. What doesnt heal us is conversations about left versus right. MzMxYTVmMGU0NWEwODMzMzJhOGNkMjViYjg1ZDI4MjRhZWFiMTQ5MTY0NmFk thumbnailLinkTabIndex: "-1" Dr. William J. Barber II's latest book, We Are Called to Be a Movement, cuts right to the chase.From Page 1, Barber makes clear his belief that the role of Christians is to call for . Dr. William J. Barber II, 52, is known in North Carolina for creating Moral Mondays, weekly protests against controversial laws signed by Governor Pat McCrory. Magazines, Poor Peoples Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, Or create a free account to access more articles, 'There Is Not Some Separation Between Jesus and Justice.' During his lecture, I was reminded that metaphors can do important work. ); Barber will participate virtually. And we still have about 80 million people who didnt vote! pageHeadlineProps Exercise, faith, and "a little miracle and medicine" fueled his recoveryalong with a good health plan. The Rev. Tell the nation of its sin. Wiiliam Barber, center, at a Moral Mondays protest at the North Carolina Legislative Building in downtown Raleigh in 2013. You know, I was invited to come down, as well, also, from the . They cant make their case on moral and constitutional grounds.. NGRlMzUxYjA2Nzk0YWE4YzYxN2I2M2Y0MzcwMjhjOTk3NGJlYzMwNGEzNjQ2 Barber, in a video call announcing the plans on Wednesday, left open the possibility for the kind of peaceful civil obedience actions inside the Tennessee Capitol that have led to arrests in other states during Moral Monday gatherings. If you think about it, white evangelicals say theyre against abortion, but they vote for candidates whove never undone Roe v. Wade. And while the nearly half of the country that is living with their backs against the wall is disproportionately Black and brown, the majority of people who are struggling in raw numbers are white. NWQ0OWNlZTJhMmJjMThiNGM3NGRiMjk0NjhiZmZlMDJjNjVmODYzODFlZjhk Copyright 2023 Mother Jones and the Foundation for National Progress. So lets acknowledge that democracy is hard, and weve always had to battle. The Rev. We must address the five interlocking injustices of systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation/denial of health care, the war economy, and the false moral narrative of religious nationalism. Barber says his emphasis on morality is inspired by his predecessors in the civil rights movement. But God said to the prophet, Sound the trumpet. He ignored the reports about a pandemic, and his administration downplayed it. And we won a victory, at least for the day. Barber launched the Poor Peoples Campaign reviving Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s movement of the same name, launched 50 years earlier in 1968 to bring attention to this widespread plight and build the political power to end the injustice of poverty. inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad. Your mother fought and organized because she knew this nations breach. unorderedWithImage: true, w brn n ndnl, ndn to his parents lnr rbr nd Wllm . rbr, r. They are North Carolina Republicans, who in November 2012 took control of the state Legislature and the governors mansion for the first time in more than a century. showDescription: false, This is the only path to domestic tranquility and healing. In 2018, Barber was named a MacArthur Fellow for building broad-based fusion coalitions as part of a moral movement to confront racial and economic inequality. He got shot because he dared to raise the love question in the wrong places. He dared to look at a piece of policy and say, How does this policy reflect love? But I do believe and Ill be honest with you, Im conservative in this way that our sins can find us out. This must be exposed. That's why we've built this movement at the grassroots in almost every state, and its why we're mobilizing ahistorical gathering of poor people and their allies on June 20. It doesnt matter what the critics call usThey can deride us, they can try to deflect from the issue. quit gossiping about other peoples sins. Liz Theoharis of the Kairos Center at Union Theological Seminary launched the Poor Peoples Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. All Rights Reserved. Mr. President, you have known the breach of economic struggle in your childhood and the breach of a broken heart. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Rev. ContentList, In 2017, he became awarded an honorary doctorate from Drew University, and also delivered the universitys sesquicentennial address at commencement exercises. ZmI0YzgyMTc1ZWYzOTNkYWU1YTIzZjlmZGY0MGQ4ZTRkNDY5NjEyZGEwZWIz Among their top prioritiesalong with blocking Medicaid expansion and cutting unemployment benefits and higher-education spendingwas pushing through a raft of changes to election laws, including reducing the number of early voting days, ending same-day voter registration, and requiring ID at the polls. v3Classes: "bst-container-fluid", Dr. William Barber, senior pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, N.C., has done just that. Michael Nigro/Sipa USA, via Associated Press, Rev. All across the country, and especially in the South, were seeing attempted political coups dtats. In the process Barber learned an early lesson: There is not some separation between Jesus and justice; to be Christian is to be concerned with whats going on in the world., And so, at his church in Goldsboro, politicians are welcome to worship and stay for a conversation, and many do. Our text this morning comes from the prophet Isaiah, chapter 58. All Rights Reserved. Barber, who received a diagnosis in the 1990s of ankylosing spondylitis, a form of arthritis that fused his vertebrae in place, says he has seen enough pain in the world that he's not going to. And it has always taken a long-term struggle inthe streets, in the suites, at the courthouse, and at the ballot box. He served as a student body president of his high school at 17. We will instead rededicate ourselves to the fight. NDI5YmFlMDExNTY4YzM1N2U3YzU5N2FhNWE3MDFkZGUzMTBjYmFmZGQ2N2Q3 OWJhMWU1Y2FkMTczYmVlZTIwZTFhMzZkZDRiNDY0YWY5YmNkMjBhZjYxYzQ5 Your politics flows from an understanding of love, justice and compassion as being at the heart of Christian faith, which is something that presumably every Christian agrees with. Its not just open to interpretation. ODk2YjMyNjc0OWRlOTY1YjJkZGUxY2Q3ODlkMDQxMmRlYjljNjgxYTJmMzMy Our democracy is hurting. unorderedWithImage: true, Biden's Inauguration Should Give Us New Hope, How Black Filmmakers Are Reclaiming Their History Onscreen. The prophet was saying then what Franklin Delano Roosevelt said in the 1930s to an America with one-third of the nation ill-housed, ill-clad, and ill-nourished, besieged by the Great Depression and beset by bigotry and hatred. Arthur Caplan recently rejected the battle metaphor when writing about Sen. John McCains cancer diagnosis for Forbes. h5: "Related Stories", MDgwNzEwMGYwM2M0NmMxNDVhODlmZTg2MGM5ZjQ4NDk0ZDEwNTU4MmFlNDFh Bad leadership, greed, and injustice and lies had led them into trouble, exile, and economic hardship. Thats a bigger number than in 2016. William J. Barber II [1] (born August 30, 1963) is an American Protestant minister, social activist, professor in the Practice of Public Theology and Public Policy and founding director of the Center for Public Theology & Public Policy at Yale Divinity School. April marks the 10-year anniversary of our moral movement, but we wont celebrate. Thats the problem for people like Graham and Falwell. This moment in our nation is not about left, right, or centrist. In the Bible, there was always tension between prophets and false prophets. Yzg5YjJkZDk5NDEwNTk1MDQwYWYyM2FlZGU1MmY0MjJiZTBjNzkyZWU0Njhm Still wearing his long black robes, the 50-year-old minister. Grant us wisdom for the facing of this hour until love and justice are never rejected. Our basic demand is the reconstruction of local, state, and federal policies to address these interlocking injustices. RNS photo by Jack Jenkins Health and disability are. So for example, the first sermon he preached, he said, The spirit of the Lord is upon me to give good news to the poor. Luke wrote about this in the Gospel, using a Greek word for poor, ptochos. So, does a policy establish justice? There is a powerful sense of hope in Barbers call for healing even as it relies on illness metaphors. YTZiYjhiZDdiOTFjODg0ZGM3NmNiNDNjNTdmMTU2ZDIyYWM0NTNkNDEzZTli In 2017, William td dwn nd h bm th ldr f th mgn b th nm f r l mgn. Historic site and monument. We must have a Third Reconstruction. Jurgen Moltmann once said: Faith, wherever it develops into hope, causes not rest but unrest, not patience but impatience Those who hope in God can no longer put up with reality as it is, but begin to suffer under it, to contradict it.. The only investors who wont let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its futureyou. A metaphor can take what feels like an overwhelming, incomprehensible social and political climate, diagnose it, contain it, and offer a tonic to salve it. It is always tied to the interlocking injustices of systemic racism, ecological devastation, the war economy, and the distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism. We must respond to this policy violence with a moral coalition that leads a movement against the policies of murder. Normal political logic gets upended when theres a moral movement. In 2017, he became awarded an honorary doctorate from Drew University. NThkMzQ4NzY1OGVkOWQ3ZmQ0YzRmYTk3Njk4YmVlMTY2MDhkNzZjMDQyMDQ0 Lord, please help, hold and harness us for Your purposes and for Your glory. Nzc1MDk0ZTVkNDEzZTcxMjdmMjIyOGUwNDZlODJmMGEwODA4ZGI0NTFjMGRk MmU4NGQ3ZmNjZjZkNDgyNTg2NzFhZDBlMjc4OWQzMDQ1YjJjOThiNzIzOWNi This article is part of a special project about equality in America today. OWVmYWFmZTAzNjI4MWYwOGIyZTgwMzgyMGZiYWRlZjkzZGNiZDJhZDNjZTEz And were forcing them to deal with the reality. They won in the West, in the upper Midwest and in the Northeast, in Georgia and Virginia and almost won in a few other Southern states. Somebody in every age has to challenge this country to be true to its moral foundation in the Constitution, Declaration of Independence and our deepest religious values.. Read more about The March, TIMEs virtual reality re-creation of the 1963 March on Washington and sign up for TIMEs history newsletter for updates. The young boy found himself on the front lines of that fight. NmMxZmExZWI5NmJiODExMmQwNTEyZDhkMzViN2EzMDM0MzA1NzQ4ZTFkNzg2 Before Rev. Barber is hosting the Mass Poor Peoples Assembly and Moral March on Washington, a digital broadcast that will explore these issues and call on people to organize around the campaign in their own communities. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk (1903), pp. eyJtZXNzYWdlIjoiOWJlZmFjYmNjOGRlNDAyYWVkZDJhYjg2ZDdiZjk3ZWU0 When he was in his early 20s, Barber was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, a painful arthritic condition affecting the spine. Ecological devastation suggests that not all disasters are natural. Barber pointedly reminded us that in Flint, Michigan you can buy unleaded gas, but not unleaded water. Meanwhile, the war economy undermines our moral standing in the world and diverts resources away from programs that can actually help. Then Youll be known as repairers of the breach those who can fix anything. }; This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and So let us ask God again what that great preacher and hymn writer Harry Emerson Fosdick asked in the midst of the Great Depression, when the nation was in a jam and needed some breach repairers. To submit a letter to the editor for publication, write to. YTNhYTgxZWVhM2VkMjY5Mjg0NTg5MzZlZWNiOTBiYzJiZjE2MTYzZGQ4YzUz Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters. He is author of We Are Called to Be a Movement. Extremists in state houses across the country are manufacturing death in our name. NmQ3OGMzZjNiYWE2YTM0NDFjYWIwNzM5OTZmN2Y4NmQwZTQ0MjU4NmJlOGI0 Bishop William J. Barber II is the president of Repairers of the Breach, co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign and architect of Moral Monday. OTI5MTEzMzAyZmQ3OThhOTc5ZmY3OTYxYjEyMWVjMjM2YTI1Mzc2ZDZhMDk1 Williams estimated net worth is $2 million. You can check out our Privacy Policy to see how we safeguard and use the information you provide us with. Amen. You swear to defend and uphold the Constitution. But to Barber, the movements success is not tied to the ballot box. Read the Full Text of the Rev. We have a strange history as a country, but there is another side: After Woodrow Wilson and Hoover, we get Roosevelt. Transposed to our time, the breach is when we say one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all with our lips while we see the rich and the poor living in two very different Americas. You have reached your limit of free articles. thumbnailLinkTabIndex: "-1" Mjc5NDVmMDEwMGRiYWU2ZDc1NDkyNzhlMmRkZmFjYzg1Nzc5Yjc5ZjczZmRk Dr. Barbers Diagnosis and Treatment of American Democracy, ECL Major Concentration in Science, Medicine and Literature, Honors Minor in Medicine, Literature and Culture, Advisory Board for Literature, Medicine and Culture, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znJbKF0dUno, Department of English & Comparative Literature. His father, a teacher and preacher, had gotten a call from a black principal asking him to return to his home state to help with the cause of integration. The largest gathering, in February, drew tens of thousands of people. thumbnailLinkTabIndex: "-1" MDA2MDY4YjUzNzliYWJjZTNiZmI5YmNiYzNmZTY1OGIzMGZlNTllYTRhOTY5 He is a tall man and stands at a height of 6 ft 0 in (Approx. His sermon is below. I believe thats the moment were in right now., Curtis is a North Carolinabased journalist and speaker. The answer is no. These memorial lectures continue her life's commitment to peace and equality. Yet the Rev. [1] As a student, scholar, and teacher of health humanities, I am all too familiar with the ways in which illness has been politicized. OWNjYjY5OWM1NDJhMjNiNDI1YTM3YmRmZmNiOTIwZTJlY2RmNDlkYTZjMWUx We aren't just asking for one thing. The Rev. In 1993, a flare-up of his condition left him hospitalized, and he spent the next dozen years relying on a walker to get around. Why do you think that is? She teaches courses in American Literature, Health Humanities, and Rhetoric & Composition. Located in a very diverse region rich in assets, not only geographically (relief, climate), but also economic and human, the Lyon-Grenoble Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes is the latest INRAE centre to be created. MWQ1YzM5YjYyZGI2NzMxYzQ2ZTg1MDQxMTM5OTk5YzFjMGUzMTRmZmYzZWZj On Maundy Thursday, they chose to crucify voting rights, he said. The term evangelical has been hijacked in favor of corporate interests. Greenlaw Hall, Room 524 And so the prophet gives the nation Gods clear guidance out of the jam it is in. In order to create your account we need you to provide your email address. It is a painful arthritic condition affecting the spine. Ultimately a great nation is a compassionate nation.. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity from two conversations. As NAACP president, he helped pass legislation establishing same-day voter registration and expanding death penalty appealsbills that Republicans repealed in the last legislative session. [4] Ibid., 57. We dont have to put up with things as they are. className: "pt-0 pb-3 my-0" He will continue as founding president of Repairers of the Breach and co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. Grenoble. pageHeadlineProps Rev. contentListProps At such a time as this, FDR said: The rest of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.. But just this week, a new study made clear that, as extreme as our gun problem is in this nation, ten times as many people are dying from poverty as are dying from gun violence. Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3520, For questions about making a donation in support of HHIVE, please contactJoshua Tyler Thornton (joshuath@email.unc.edu). William J. Barber II Uses His Faith to Fight for the Poor. Because I know American history. His work as an activist takes him to the state capital often enough that hes well known there. YmQxMDc3MjcxZjE1N2YyYTY0OTU2ODRjZjY3NWFlNjczMjUzNTg4YWNhYmJi In fact, the group that we were with, a couple of folks said to me: Reverend, dont do that. [1] This is not the first time that Rev. }; The breach would be knowing the only way to ensure domestic tranquility is to establish justice, but pretending we can address the nations wounds with simplistic calls for unity. ZmZjYzE1YzE5MmM1NDNhZTQwYzJhMzVmMTc4YTEwMGQ2Mjk0ZjI3ZjJkNWU0 I do believe that there can be retribution. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our, Digital NjllNWMwMjhmNDY0NmNiZTg0ODEzNzIyNjQ1ZGIyYzM1YzA3MzJmNWMzZjg2 Opening illustration: Source photograph by Paul Morigi/Getty Images. More than 900 protesters have been arrested for civil disobedience over the past year. This strategy of feeding and seeding intentional racial and class divisions into the body politic spilled over into the inevitable violence that ideas of supremacy always produce. Thanks for signing up as a global citizen. Yjc4NmFkZGJlMDNmMTAyZTc4NWEzYjcyMDQ0YjBmNDNmZDI0YjAxYTI1ZDE4 It is a National Call for Moral Revival in honor of the original 1968 campaign founded by Martin Luther King Jr. NjcyOGI3ZDQ4YmQxNTA0MjU0ODk3MDMyMmE5ZmYwZGJiODA1OGE2YmEyMjVh His newsmaking actions were founded on the idea that being a person of faith means fighting for justicewhether by working beside a conservative mayor to protest the closing of rural hospitals or by calling for an NAACP boycott of the state in response to the legislatures actions, like its infamous bathroom bill., In 2018, the 56-year-old ministera MacArthur genius grantee who founded the community-organizing group Repairers of the Breachput a new spin on that work. When you look today and see so-called white evangelicalism, you have to understand they are powerful, but they are not the majority of religiosity in this country. Wherever theres debate on gun legislation, legislators must pack the galleries with parents and siblings of the dead holding photos of their loved ones. PageHeadlines, What does it mean to use scriptural passages like that as evidence for political arguments? They first had to win the moral high ground, and they had to capture the attention and consciousness of the nation, he explains. We're demanding a reconstruction of everything. While UNC was hosting the first Weil Lecture delivered by former President William Howard Taft in 1915, President Woodrow Wilson was relying on white nationalism and fear mongering to carry out his deconstruction of Reconstruction. In between the Wilson and Trump Presidencies lies a long history of injustice that Barber drew upon to diagnose our present moment. A collective meditation on environmental and health justice was a fitting introduction, not just to the oration of a southern preacher, but also to his message: our American democracy is sick. h5: "Related Stories", Roosevelt pushes through Social Security, minimum wage, union rights, leads us through a war. The 10-day trip culminated in a report that blasted the countrys contrasts between private wealth and public squalor and called on immediate policy interventions. Bishop William J. Barber preaching Greenleaf Christian Church's 136th Church Anniversary, LIVE from Goldsboro, NC!#Greenleaf #ChristianChurch #WorshipCelebra. var pageHeadlineProps = { Because they cant! MjQyNWJmN2Y4ZTQ2OWE0YzIzZGYwZGQyN2VhYjBkNzRhNWNjN2E5NWIwNGY0 We must refuse to accept the narrative that says our nation is divided between red and blue. MDgwZjQyY2RmYmU1MjVmZTBmNjg5YjRlZWVhMWJkYzk3ZWZjMWRkY2MxM2Y3 unorderedWithImage: true, MmM1ZGE5ZTRjNjQzOWJmY2ZjMjI5NGFlZmYxZTkxNDcxODVhM2NlMjc5ZDgy NzcxMzU5YWE4NzUxZDkyNTkwM2E1MTEzMWY3ZTI3ZmQ3NTMyM2M3NGZlOGRi William Barber Poor People's Campaign. On the last Monday of April 2013, Barber led a modest group of clergy and activists into the state legislative building in Raleigh. Therefore, he has amassed a fortune over the years. "related-stories-plugin-headline--432706", var pageHeadlineProps = { By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from Mother Jones and our partners. William married his beautiful wife Rebecca McLean in 1987. And every now and then, a nation needs breach repairers to take us forward. If your Facebook account does not have an attached e-mail address, you'll need to add that before you can sign up. But right here, right now, a Third Reconstruction is possible if we choose. July 28, 2016 at 11:50 p.m. EDT. Once you sit down and look at the original Hebrew and read the rest of the Scripture, it tells you exactly what it means. We should have learned this lesson a hundred years ago. Step Into History: Learn how to experience the 1963 March on Washington in virtual reality, Any resemblance to the work of Martin Luther King Jr. is intentional: King launched his own Poor Peoples Campaign less than a year before he was assassinated in April 1968. In honor of the Moral Monday movement's 10th anniversary, Bishop William Barber and dozens of advocacy groups gathered at the state capitol Monday for what they call a ' Recommitment Rally'. The same people who refuse to ban guns also refuse to expand health care. Does it promote the general welfare? On Tuesday here in New York, Bishop Barber was presented with the Andrew Goodman Foundation's Hidden Heroes Award "for courageously defending the moral values of American democracy," joining us. var contentListProps = { Candidate and Senior Teaching Fellow in English and HHIVE Assistant Director. William Barber. Barber will retire as pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, North Carolina, where he has served as senior pastor since 1993. The logic doesnt compute.. contentList: JSON.parse('[{\u0022id\u0022:20768,\u0022thumbnails\u0022:{\u0022medium\u0022:{\u0022landscape\u0022:\u0022https://media.globalcitizen.org/thumbnails/fb/c2/fbc27ac4\u002D11f6\u002D47f7\u002Dac68\u002D240bc5bacf16/covid\u002D19\u002Dalabama\u002Drural\u002Dhospitals\u002Dclosures\u002Dsocial\u002Dshare.jpg__800x600_q85_crop_subsampling\u002D2.jpg\u0022,\u0022portrait\u0022:\u0022https://media.globalcitizen.org/thumbnails/fb/c2/fbc27ac4\u002D11f6\u002D47f7\u002Dac68\u002D240bc5bacf16/covid\u002D19\u002Dalabama\u002Drural\u002Dhospitals\u002Dclosures\u002Dsocial\u002Dshare.jpg__600x800_q85_crop_subsampling\u002D2.jpg\u0022,\u0022landscape_16_9\u0022:\u0022https://media.globalcitizen.org/thumbnails/fb/c2/fbc27ac4\u002D11f6\u002D47f7\u002Dac68\u002D240bc5bacf16/covid\u002D19\u002Dalabama\u002Drural\u002Dhospitals\u002Dclosures\u002Dsocial\u002Dshare.jpg__800x450_q85_crop_subsampling\u002D2.jpg\u0022},\u0022large\u0022:{\u0022landscape_16_9\u0022:\u0022https://media.globalcitizen.org/thumbnails/fb/c2/fbc27ac4\u002D11f6\u002D47f7\u002Dac68\u002D240bc5bacf16/covid\u002D19\u002Dalabama\u002Drural\u002Dhospitals\u002Dclosures\u002Dsocial\u002Dshare.jpg__1600x900_q85_crop_subsampling\u002D2.jpg\u0022},\u0022credits\u0022:{\u0022caption\u0022:\u0022Signs hang on a recently closed Pickens County Medical Center in Carrollton, Ala on March 26, 2020.