The list of inequities and inequalities fostered under late capitalism and increased by additional racism and sexism grows longer day by day. No one person can solve it all, and no one solution will have all the answers.

But the Reverend Dr. Barber is one of the inspiring social justice activists of our time, and he has a better grasp on how to be a good leftist than most of the self-proclaimed leftists out there. There's a reason Hillary Clinton gave him a prime time speaking slot at the 2016 Democratic National Convention! If you're looking for a little inspiration to get you through until January 20, 2021, start here. ( )

Brief but inspiring read on the North Carolina Moral Mondays movement by one of it's leaders, Rev. William Barber. Not a polemic or a tactics guide, but a personal description by Barber of his history, what brought him to the movement, what the movement is and how it came to be so intersectional; how it came to be composed of many disparate protest and action groups across a breadth of many issues.

Received in January 2016 as part of Early Reviewer giveaway from December 2015. Read not long after that, forgot to post until now. ( )

2016 has been short on good news. But Rev. Dr. William Barber is an exception. His "Moral Mondays" show us that the world doesn't have to be a place of dispair as long as there people of courage. He also calls us have the courage of our convictions and "Overcome the Politics of Division and Fear". He knows and these books show that it will not easy but it is needed. ( )

I was looking forward to reading this book from the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber after hearing about the “Moral Mondays” movement in North Carolina that has rallied thousands of people to challenge what seemed to many to be a runaway legislature. I anticipated that I would learn more about Barber and the broad coalition that he and his co-workers organized that was fighting hard for the poor and disenfranchised in his community. The subtitle of the book promised to tell “How a Moral Movement is Overcoming the Politics of Division and Fear.”

Sadly, the very words “moral movement” might keep some folks who ought to read this book away. Ever since Jerry Falwell and his colleagues on the religious right claimed the title of the “Moral Majority,” “moral” has too often been used to typify a socially conservative, anti-gay, pro-capitalist viewpoint that has little appeal to people seeking broader inclusion, economic fairness, and legal justice in our nation. The Moral Movement that Dr. Barber and his associates are developing seeks to reclaim a moral language that returns “public discourse to our deepest moral and constitutional values.”

I got the book just before the Presidential election in November, and expected that it would be an interesting history about a progressive movement in a part of the country that unfortunately seemed rather regressive. (Disclosure: I am a California-based, liberal clergyperson formed in the tradition of faith-based work for justice and peace.) I finished reading it in a country that felt different, one where the forces of what Barber calls “the extremists” won the election and are quickly laying out their agenda for the country as a whole.

Reading the book helped me to understand more deeply why the North Carolina lawmakers seemed to be so out of control, and how their actions are perhaps a warning of things to come. Barber (and his co-author Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove) describe how the extreme positions taken by the legislature and state leaders are in to a great extent a reaction to what Barber calls the “Third Reconstruction.”

To understand what this third reconstruction might be, we need to study the first and second. The first brought about the abolition of slavery and the reshaping of civic life after the Civil War; the second was what we generally call the civil rights movement. Both movements were what Barber calls “fusion” movements, bringing people of diverse backgrounds, race, and experience together to fight for shared values and the common good. Both movements were also met by serious and often violent opposition, a backlash that took form not only in direct attacks on individuals and groups, but in manipulation of laws and public institutions to roll back what had been gained. The opponents “attacked voting rights. Then they attacked public education, labor, fair tax policies, and progressive leaders. Then they took over the state and federal courts, so they could be used to render rulings that would undermine the hope of a new America” (p. 117). What has been happening in North Carolina, and now seems poised to happen nationwide, is the newest manifestation of this historical backlash.

It might be harder to see now how the Moral Movement is overcoming division and fear, and a skeptic might say that our current situation disproves the validity of Barber’s approach. But Rev. Barber is no simplistic Pollyanna. He knows well the powerful reaction that rises to oppose movements that seek to support “voting rights, public education, fair tax structures, labor rights, women, immigrants, and minorities” (p. 120). The book is not only a celebration of what a movement has already accomplished, it is a warning that we as a nation have not yet achieved equality and justice. It offers a handbook for organizing (an Appendix for Organizers lines out 14 principles for developing a fusion movement).

Political activists may find Rev. Barber’s approach too “churchy;” church people may be uncomfortable with his direct political analysis and call to action. In his fusion of these two dimensions of his own personality and experience, Barber offers an inspiring history and a path forward for developing stronger and more inclusive partnerships dedicated to the good of all. Anyone concerned about social justice and community organizing should read this book. ( )

This book appeared unexpectedly on my doorstep a week after my country’s disastrous presidential election. I started reading it immediately, and it was the perfect book to help me face the future.

William Barber is the North Carolina man who has brought together Moral Mondays, a large and amazingly diverse movement opposing the extreme right’s legislation in his state. He brings together a strong Biblical Christianity with an equally strong respect for variety of people and causes. He calls this book a “memoir” of this movement. While he stresses that each state must develop its own agenda out of its own people’s grievances, he lays out the path to claiming the moral high ground that is inclusive rather than exclusive. I am not usually drawn to such deeply religious language as his, but reading his words I realized the importance of proclaiming that right and wrong still matter, despite claims that all positions are relative.

Part of Barber’s appeal is simply his own charismatic voice, a voice which resonates on every page of his book. Beyond that voice, however, Barber offers a much needed model for achieving unity while honoring diversity. Basically he listens deeply and honestly to others who do not share his beliefs or world view. While true to his own absolute religious stance, he does not assume, explicitly or implicitly, that he and his view must be accepted. Instead he focuses on existing issues on which there is agreement. As he points out, even when we work for various causes, we often face the same obstacles. In building his North Carolina movement, he brought together leaders of different progressive movements to develop a list of priorities that all could accept. Once the list was created, those present committed themselves to nonviolent efforts to address the problems. He and his allies developed a pattern for protesting their state legislature’s repressive actions against the neediest. At one level, Barber’s methods are not radical, but his willingness to listen and honor others is profoundly different from the way most of us usually work. He offers a possible way out of the dead end of working only with others like ourselves.

Barber calls his work “fusion politics” which establishes supportive relationships for the long haul. He recounts the ways in which blacks and whites were able to establish such alliances briefly after the Civil War. His vision also reflects the dream of a “beloved community” of the Civil Rights movement. In honoring these past moments, he calls his book and his project, the “Third Reconstruction.”

I strongly urge others to read and think about this book. I especially believe that it is an important book for those of us who are basically "good, white liberals" with secular leanings. Too often we say we support diversity, but we assume and listen primarily to our own insular voices. We think that being tolerant means never judging those who cause harm. Barber offer a prophetic alternative to stand up to evil words and actions while listening more clearly to those who might stand with us if we are humble enough to listen to them. Reading Barber I realized how we need to go back to taking the moral ground from those who advocate lies and hatred. ( )