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Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II  


Throughout Black Historical past Month and all year long, we honor the leaders, advocates, and on a regular basis heroes whose contributions form our society. The 2025 theme is “African People and Labor.” Every kind of labor impression well being, from bodily well-being to revenue and employer-provided insurance coverage. The 2 have all the time been and stay inextricably related. 

This yr, we’re spotlighting Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, a extremely influential nationwide organizer, neighborhood advocate, and political activist with sturdy roots in North Carolina. Rev. Dr. Barber embodies a legacy of Black management, and his organizations create historical past day by day, constructing on the exceptional achievements of those that got here earlier than. 

Reviving & Co-Chairing the Poor Folks’s Marketing campaign 

Rev. Dr. Barber is greatest recognized for co-chairing the Poor Folks’s Marketing campaign: A Nationwide Name for Ethical Revival and main the Ethical Monday protests on the North Carolina Common Meeting, which started in 2013. The marketing campaign is a revival of the 1968 Poor Folks’s Marketing campaign organized by the civil rights group the Southern Christian Management Convention whereas below the management of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

At present, the marketing campaign lays out calls for and a coverage agenda to handle “the interlocking evils of systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, the conflict economic system, and our distorted ethical narrative,” all of which impression well being and well-being. 

Though these efforts started way back, the work stays unfinished. The motion continues to unite a broad coalition of individuals throughout strains of distinction to construct a greater future the place everybody has the chance to succeed. 

Residing a Legacy of Service & Advocating for Justice 

Rev. Dr. Barber was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, simply two days after the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the place over 200,000 demonstrators gathered and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. 

He and his household later moved from Indianapolis, Indiana, to Washington County, North Carolina, his father’s hometown. There, his father served as the primary African American instructor, and his mom served as the primary African American workplace supervisor on the county’s white highschool. 

At the moment, Rev. Dr. Barber serves as president and senior lecturer of Repairers of the Breach and bishop with The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries. He’s a professor within the follow of public theology and public coverage and the founding director of the Heart for Public Theology and Public Coverage at Yale Divinity Faculty. 

He additionally served because the pastor of the Greenleaf Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Goldsboro, North Carolina, for 30 years. In all his work, Rev. Dr. Barber continues to construct on a legacy of service and dedication to justice. 

Constructing on the Previous to Create a Higher Future 

At FHLI, we rejoice leaders like Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, who drive options that deal with the basis causes of our most urgent challenges, from structural racism to social drivers of well being. We should bear in mind the previous and let it inform us transferring ahead to create a future that helps whole-person, whole-community well being throughout our state. 

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