Rev. Dr. William J Barber, II Call to Action at HKonJ5, February 12, 2011

Call to Action
Delivered by Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II
NC NAACP State President and National Board Member
At Historic Thousands on Jones Street: People's Assembly 5
Raleigh NC
February 12, 2011

(UNEDITED)
Thank God for the day we have been given. It's good to be here with all of you. Forward together, not one step back.

WE is the most important word in the Justice vocabulary. The question is never what We can't do. The question is always what We can do when We stand together, work together, hope together . . . demand justice together.

143 years ago --1868-- Blacks and Whites- after four years of a violent war came together to shape the new promises of a diverse democracy, over against a society that had been built on the evil and inhumanity of chattel slavery that had oppressed millions of human beings. In this capital city, a few blocks from here, Black and Whites came together to shape the promise of a new democracy, a diverse democracy, rooted in the promises, the possibilities, and the politics of tomorrow. Standing together, they penned a new Constitution which at its core called all the people in North Carolina to remember:

"All political power is vested in and derived from the people; all government of right originates from the people, is founded upon their will only, and is instituted solely for the good of the whole."

History called these courageous efforts FUSION politics, a coming together to reconstruct a New North Carolina. But 30yrs later a violent band of racist broke the promises of new Constitution and the fragile political fusion that courageous Blacks and Whites had built. Violent, lawless, and corrupt forces, determined to go backwards and restore the racist culture and social practices of racism and regression--rather than those of freedom and justice—beginning in Wilmington-ran roughshod over the forces of righteousness and our constitution.

And yet in the midst of broken promises and pain, another We emerged, 102 years ago on this very day. Blacks and Whites came together again, and called for a new commitment to rebuild the fusion politics of tomorrow, in the midst of racist, regressive politics of yesterday. The National Association for the Advancement of Color People, the NAACP, was formed 102 years ago today.

Whites and Blacks; Preachers and Scholars; Jews and Christians; Lawyers and Social Scientists decided that in midst of a social crisis of regression, they would not go backwards. Instead, they would answer the call for justice; they would challenge the forces of injustice; they would still believe in the possibility of We the People.

This commitment to the politics of tomorrow—the politics of vision and hope--has had many ebbs and flow in our 102 year history. We have witnessed many manifestations since then. But we know on today, without a shadow of a doubt, as WE gather here on Feb 12, 2011, WE stand in that grand tradition which still refuses to believe that inequality and injustice has the last word. It's a tradition so deep . . . so creative . . . so transformative... that it keeps on, even when its leaders are assassinated. This longing for inclusive democracy captures the imagination of each-succeeding generation and right before our eyes, we see it on the streets of Cairo in Egypt because injustice demands a challenge and the very essence of our souls cry out for freedom

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