By Barbara Kuhn and Shenay Nolan
The kick-off for Moral Mondays in Memphis brought a diverse crowd to the sanctuary of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church to hear the Rev. William J. Barber II, who initiated the Moral Mondays movement while president of the North Carolina NAACP.
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| Rev. William J. Barber II speaks at the first Moral Mondays event in Memphis, held at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church on Oct. 16. He called for the audience to join his New Poor People's Campaign. |
Moral Mondays began in Barber's home state of North Carolina, but now are held in several cities across the country. The purpose of the gatherings, which sometimes take the form of protest marches, is to develop solutions for social justice issues that affect the community. In Memphis, Moral Mondays are part of the events marking the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The 50th anniversary of King in Memphis “cannot be just another look back, it must be a look forward,” said Dr. Alvin O’Neal Jackson, who chairs the National Civil Rights Museum’s MLK50 Clergy Executive Committee.
“The best way to honor the prophet (King) is to finish the prophet’s work,” he said. Two more Moral Mondays in Memphis events have been scheduled for January 22, and March. 12. Barber gave a spirited, wide-ranging talk that brought those in the sanctuary to their feet repeatedly said he is seeking to reclaim the term “evangelical” from religious conservatives.
“We must recognize that we cannot solve our problems without a radical redistribution of economic and political power,” he said. “We must change the moral narrative.”
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| Members of the clergy join Rev. William J. Barber II at the front of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church Oct. 16, during the first of three Moral Mondays in Memphis being held as part of the MLK50 observance |
“If you don’t change the narrative, you cannot change the agenda.”
Barber said that to bring America back to its “moral center,” people must challenge “systemic racism, systemic poverty, ecological devastation and the war economy.”
He said that campaign rhetoric during the last four Presidential election cycles has ignored the problem of poverty in America.
“There was not, in any of the debates, one hour dedicated to poverty,” he said. “Not one hour dedicated to systemic racism. Not one hour of debate on ecological devastation. Not one hour on the war economy. “People are sick and tired of being sick and tired.”
The people who are suffering in America know that the current moral crisis “goes much deeper than Donald Trump,” Barber said.
Whenever activists push for justice, those in power will push back. “It’s a call and response,” he said. The response is violence, but that violence isn’t always physical. Other forms of violence Barber cited include failing to find public schools, not paying a living wage, punishing people because of their sexuality and suppressing the vote. “Even an apathetic attitude” can be considered violence.
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| The first Moral Mondays event held in Memphis drew a diverse crowd to Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church. |
“That’s why it is a sin before God for an imam or a rabbi or a preacher to ask their people to tithe if you’re not out there fighting for them,” he said to an ovation and extended applause.
He said many of the same conditions that brought King to Memphis in 1968 still exist today. The city has one of the nation’s highest child poverty rates.
One of the first areas that needs to be addressed is “race-aligned voter suppression,” which he said is where the “real hacking of our elections started.”
Voter ID requirements only became prevalent when non-white communities became organized and started registering more people to vote.
In the 2016 election, there were 868 fewer voting sites than in 2012.
“In any other country, people would be in the streets,” he said.
“We have to address it as a moral issue, not a Democratic or Republican issue.”
“We cannot celebrate and commemorate and remember what was done then and then abdicate our responsibility to do what needs to be done now,” Barber thundered.
Moral Mondays Table Talk
Prior to Barber's address, many attended a a dinner and "table talk" that allowed people from different races, cultures, professions, and backgrounds to share a meal and discussion. Here are some of the questions and the answers from participants:What are your hopes for Memphis?
- That Memphis becomes a city of historical rise-up
- That Memphis pastors and churches work together
- That people find a way to connect
- That more Memphis businesses pay their workers a fair wage.
What are the greatest obstacles facing Memphis?
- Poor patients are being crippled through Medicaid
- Doctors have to call to judges and be on the telephone for hours to assist patients with getting their medications
- Memphis citizens suffer from disconnect and complacency
- A large number of citizens with mental illnesses who are not being treated
- A poor education system
- Gentrification of neighborhoods forcing out low-income residents
What are your fears about Memphis?
- Memphis remains the same
- Profits continue to be more important than lives
- Continue to attend Moral Mondays
- Put pressure on the government to provide them with the tools they need for survival and to succeed
Two more Moral Mondays events have been scheduled:
- January 22 at Hope Presbyterian Church, 8000 Walnut Grove Rd., Memphis, with Rev. Dr. James A. Forbes Jr. speaking.
- March 12 at Temple Israel, 1376 East Massey Rd., Memphis, with Rev. Traci Blackmon speaking.