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drbobcornwall's review against another edition
5.0
What is morality? Answers will depend on who gives them. For William Barber, morality has to do with justice. A Disciple pastor and president of the North Carolina branch of the NAACP, William Barber has become best known for his leadership of the Forward Together/Moral Mondays movement.
If you have hard him speak and preach, you will have heard William Barber speak of a Third Reconstruction emerging in America, especially in the South. The first reconstruction took place following the end of the Civil War, when white and black leaders joined together to form what he calls fusion governments that lifted up recently freed slaves into a new position of leadership in the community. That reconstruction gave way to a new era of segregation, exclusion, violence, poverty, and Jim Crow. A Second Reconstruction emerged in 1954 with the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, overturning "separate but equal laws" and culminating in the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts. But that Reconstruction ended with the murder of Martin Luther King and Richard Nixon's embrace of a southern strategy that turned the Party of Lincoln into the part of retrenchment. Finally, the Moral Mondays movement signals the beginning of a new fusion politics in the south, one that brings together concerns about voting rights, women's rights, labor rights, health care for all, and LGBT rights.
"Forward Together" from Chalice Press brings together the speeches given by Rev. Barber to the Moral Mondays participants, including those who had volunteered to be arrested, before marching to the state capitol building. Beyond the Moral Mondays speeches, Barber and his editor Barbara Zelter, there are several speeches given to the Historic Thousands on Jones Street Rally 8, to Equality NC and the NAACP National Board on the importance of allying the cause of justice with LGBT concerns. He makes it clear that the attempt to create a wedge between African Americans and Gays will not work. There is a speech on the relationship of civil rights and labor rights made to a union convention. Finaly there is an article for Sojourners that summarizes the movement.
As he nears the end of the book, he offers up a summation of the vision:
"Perhaps the only way to conclude this piece is to say we have learned that there is a deep hunger for the recovery of our moral compass, for language in the political debate that is not bound by the restraints of mere left and right, Democrat and Republican; that many people still desire to see the light of justice; and that the prophetic clarion call can also sometimes awaken those who thought they were your enemies to b your friends in the struggle." (p. 164)
While his political orientation puts him in the Democratic camp and his opponents in this primarily come from Tea Party backed politicians including the recently elected Senator from North Carolina, he speaks of this not in partisan terms but moral and human terms.
The message of the book is powerful and inspiring. It is a call to action, and if one wishes to understand the issues and the importance of building a broad coalition, Barber's book will prove inspiring.
If you have hard him speak and preach, you will have heard William Barber speak of a Third Reconstruction emerging in America, especially in the South. The first reconstruction took place following the end of the Civil War, when white and black leaders joined together to form what he calls fusion governments that lifted up recently freed slaves into a new position of leadership in the community. That reconstruction gave way to a new era of segregation, exclusion, violence, poverty, and Jim Crow. A Second Reconstruction emerged in 1954 with the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, overturning "separate but equal laws" and culminating in the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts. But that Reconstruction ended with the murder of Martin Luther King and Richard Nixon's embrace of a southern strategy that turned the Party of Lincoln into the part of retrenchment. Finally, the Moral Mondays movement signals the beginning of a new fusion politics in the south, one that brings together concerns about voting rights, women's rights, labor rights, health care for all, and LGBT rights.
"Forward Together" from Chalice Press brings together the speeches given by Rev. Barber to the Moral Mondays participants, including those who had volunteered to be arrested, before marching to the state capitol building. Beyond the Moral Mondays speeches, Barber and his editor Barbara Zelter, there are several speeches given to the Historic Thousands on Jones Street Rally 8, to Equality NC and the NAACP National Board on the importance of allying the cause of justice with LGBT concerns. He makes it clear that the attempt to create a wedge between African Americans and Gays will not work. There is a speech on the relationship of civil rights and labor rights made to a union convention. Finaly there is an article for Sojourners that summarizes the movement.
As he nears the end of the book, he offers up a summation of the vision:
"Perhaps the only way to conclude this piece is to say we have learned that there is a deep hunger for the recovery of our moral compass, for language in the political debate that is not bound by the restraints of mere left and right, Democrat and Republican; that many people still desire to see the light of justice; and that the prophetic clarion call can also sometimes awaken those who thought they were your enemies to b your friends in the struggle." (p. 164)
While his political orientation puts him in the Democratic camp and his opponents in this primarily come from Tea Party backed politicians including the recently elected Senator from North Carolina, he speaks of this not in partisan terms but moral and human terms.
The message of the book is powerful and inspiring. It is a call to action, and if one wishes to understand the issues and the importance of building a broad coalition, Barber's book will prove inspiring.
shiradest's review against another edition
2.0
While Reverend Dr. Barber is certainly working to build coalitions across creed/race/condition, and I am very impressed, I will admit a bit surprised as well, to see that this includes the LGBTQ community in North Carolina, I was a bit put off by the clear Christian bias (preaching) in his book, which essentially summarises the meetings and marches that have been part of the building of his movement.
I understand and agree that the US is a primarily Judeo-Christian nation in origin, but I find that the level of explicitly Christian citations is far far higher than what Dr. King used, and I personally feel (and perhaps this reflects my own biases) that less of the preaching and more of the reasoning of the type used by Dr. King most often in his speeches might draw in more of our non-Christian brethren (particularly Islamic friends -and much of the Koran does cite or paraphrase the Bible, so it is not very difficult to include Koranic verses as well, given that Rev. Barker seems to go to pains to include both "Old Testament" and NT quotes...).
Overall, I found the last pages in chapter 14 most useful (lessons learned and goals/strategies for linked/related movements).
Toward Human Cooperation,
ShiraDestinie
21 October, 12016 HE
I understand and agree that the US is a primarily Judeo-Christian nation in origin, but I find that the level of explicitly Christian citations is far far higher than what Dr. King used, and I personally feel (and perhaps this reflects my own biases) that less of the preaching and more of the reasoning of the type used by Dr. King most often in his speeches might draw in more of our non-Christian brethren (particularly Islamic friends -and much of the Koran does cite or paraphrase the Bible, so it is not very difficult to include Koranic verses as well, given that Rev. Barker seems to go to pains to include both "Old Testament" and NT quotes...).
Overall, I found the last pages in chapter 14 most useful (lessons learned and goals/strategies for linked/related movements).
Toward Human Cooperation,
ShiraDestinie
21 October, 12016 HE
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