“On TV last night, millions of Americans watched President Donald J Trump discuss war, but in Topeka, Kansas, nearly a thousand Kansans, Missourians and a family from Nebraska had a long discussion about peace, hope, and the rights of the poor.
Reverend Barber II began his evening outside, standing on the steps, discussing the impact of voter suppression and calling for Americans to reject the efforts of Kris Kobach and work to enable all Americans to participate in the vote.
The Poor People’s Campaign represents an effort of clergy around the nation, of multiple faiths and denominations, to talk about the needs to address issues which impact Americans often left without a voice.
In material provided to attendees, the case for change was made in this way:
“We must shift the moral narrative in our nation. This movement intentionally addresses systemic racism, poverty, environmental degradation, the war economies, the negative impact on fulfilling the promises of our democracy, and the call of fundamental human rights,”said the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II. “As our social fabric is stretched thin by widening income inequality, politicians criminalize the poor, fan the flames of racism and xenophobia to divide the poor, and steal from the poor to give tax breaks to the rich and budget increases to a bloated military. At such a time as this, we need a Poor People’s Campaign for Moral Revival to help us become the nation we’ve not yet been,” he said.
The First United Methodist Church in Topeka, Kansas, had originally expected around 500, with balcony areas roped off for press and guests, but quickly found the church had overflowed capacity. As guests entered, the walls, vestibule, floor and balconies were quickly filled, leaving some guests standing on the other side of doors to hear the discussion inside.
While many attendees were certainly Democratic faithful, Reverend Barber’s position made clear that reform is needed on all sides in the discussion of issues of race and relations in America.
"When Democrats refuse to name and confront policy driven racism, when Democrats talk about racism only in the extreme, but they won't use terms like racism to describe how policies have an impact on black and brown people, and when Democrats want to frame every issue in economic terms as a way of not appearing as racism, or when we talk about reaching out only to the white working class or the white middle class, that too is a problem."
His speech, lasting roughly 1 hour, touched on many subjects, including controversial ones in the heartland. “Everyone wants to find out who's with who, who's gay or straight, so they got on me one day and I said fine, let's talk about sex. Let's talk about what the Bible talks about sex. Let's talk about what the Bible says about a nation that has gone whoring to other Gods. The sex I want to talk about is the illicit relationship between big business and supreme court rulings that produced the illegitimate child we know as Citizens United."
In the end, however, the Reverend’s speech returned to familiar grounds frequently: we need individuals to put themselves out there as advocates for change in their communities. “Do not let your voice be silent,” he told an audience, speak up and be heard. “As I told Angeliina [Lawson, a Kansas candidate], we need some good trouble makers,”
The reference was regarding the need to speak out — sometimes when uncomfortable, and was prompted by a meeting prior to the event with Darryl Burton, a man who spent 24 years on death row in Missouri for a crime he didn’t commit.
Advocates who had testified to end the death penalty in Kansas, like Mrs. Lawson, introduced Reverend Barber to Mr. Burton prior to the him appearing to speak. “We need trouble makers on the side of the justice,” Reverend Barber contended. Darryl Burton has issued numerous statements regarding his forgiveness of those who had convicted him. But for him, the journey to hold his faith was difficult at times.
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Burton's trial had only confirmed his skepticism. "They [the witnesses] raised their right hand, and I don't know if they put their hand on a Bible or not, but they said they swear 'to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothin' but the truth, so help me God,' and was lying," Burton says. "And I'm saying, well, why didn't God strike 'em dead right there?"
The reverend echoed that thought in his speech, referring to politicians: “When you put your hand on the Bible and you swear to uphold it, we are going to open it and make you read what's in it. In that book are more than 2,500 scriptures about how you should treat the poor and the least of thee, it will tell you the greatest sin is idoltry, and the second greatest sin is how you treat the poor."
The Poor People’s Campaign continues their journey across America in the future months, scheduled to appear in these locations: Louisville, Kentucky (Aug. 24), Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Aug. 28), Detroit, Michigan (Sept. 5), Birmingham, Alabama (Sept. 12), Los Angeles, California (Sept. 19), Chicago, Illinois (Oct. 12), Binghamton, New York (Oct. 17), Boston, Massachusetts (Oct. 19), El Paso, Texas (Oct. 22), Seattle, Washington (Nov. 6), Jackson, Mississippi (Nov. 13), and the District of Columbia (Dec. 4).
After the event, local clergy and volunteers met with attendees to discuss the event as well as the news on TV from the president. “Instead of fear on TV,” noted Rev. Tobias Schlingensiepen, “tonight we rejoiced in a church about hope.”