{"id":9946,"date":"2016-08-09T23:06:10","date_gmt":"2016-08-09T23:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/?p=9946"},"modified":"2016-08-19T20:12:20","modified_gmt":"2016-08-19T20:12:20","slug":"i-needed-somebody-to-hope-me-an-update-on-the-moral-revival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/2016\/08\/i-needed-somebody-to-hope-me-an-update-on-the-moral-revival\/","title":{"rendered":"I Needed Somebody to Hope Me: An Update on the Moral Revival"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

By Rev. Dr. William Barber<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/iframe><\/p>\nWhen I was growing up in Eastern North Carolina, I used to love to sit in my grandmama\u2019s kitchen and listen to her sing as she made dinner. Whenever she was done cooking, she\u2019d give me a plate to eat. Then she and some of the other sisters from the church would make up some to-go plates and, with their aprons still on, head out the door to visit the sick and shut-in. \u201cWe going to hope somebody,\u201d Grandmama would say.<\/p>\nFor years, I thought Grandmama\u2019s grammar was bad. I studied my lessons in English class and knew that hope wasn\u2019t a verb. I didn\u2019t dare correct Grandmama, but I knew better than to say I was going to hope somebody.<\/p>\nYears later, after I\u2019d gone to graduate school and read the great theologians, I woke up one morning and couldn\u2019t move. My doctors told me I\u2019d never walk again. There was nothing they could do to help me.<\/p>\nLaying on my back in the hospital bed, it struck me that Grandmama was a better theologian than I\u2019d realized.\u00a0When no one could help me, I needed somebody to hope me<\/strong>. Only a revival down on the inside was going to change my circumstances on the outside.<\/p>\nGod sent an angel to hope me, and something powerful happened. Folks started getting together. My doctors got together with the nurses and my family got together with my therapists. My church got together and figured out how to help me get around.<\/p>\nIt was a dozen years before I could walk on my own, but the minute I had hope down on the inside and folks started coming together, I knew I had a future.<\/p>\nSince April 4th<\/span> I have been traveling the country with the Moral Revival. In each city we\u2019ve visited, we\u2019ve gathered clergy, labor, and civil rights leaders for moral political leadership training. Using the blueprint of North Carolina\u2019s Moral Movement, which I lay out in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Third-Reconstruction-Mondays-Politics-Movement\/dp\/0807083607?ie=UTF8&SubscriptionId=0ENGV10E9K9QDNSJ5C82&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=0807083607&linkCode=xm2&tag=flatwave-20\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">The Third Reconstruction<\/a>, we\u2019ve been hoping people who\u2019d begun to wonder whether hope is possible in our time. This training is about more than inspiration; it\u2019s an invitation to come together across historic dividing lines to build fusion coalitions around a moral agenda.<\/p>\nWhen people get hope and come together, revival happens. We saw it in Birmingham, where some preachers and union organizers had been trained in a synagogue just a few weeks before. They reached out and packed an historically black Baptist church on a Monday evening with a crowd as diverse as the city itself.<\/p>\nWe saw the same in Cleveland, where over 1200 ministers had already signed our\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.moralrevival.org\/signmoraldeclaration\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Higher Ground Moral Declaration<\/a>\u00a0by the time we got to town. We tried to deliver a copy of the declaration to the Republican National Convention leadership,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cleveland.com\/metro\/index.ssf\/2016\/07\/faith_leaders_march_to_quicken.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">but they turned us away<\/a>. When we paused to pray for this nation and its\u00a0leadership, they threatened to arrest us. But that didn\u2019t quell the revival. Folks in Cleveland had already been hoped.<\/p>\nIn Philadelphia again last week, Unitarians and Baptists, Quakers and Catholics came together at the historic Friends Meeting on Cherry Street to hope one another. We heard the cries of people who are hurting in Philadelphia because they cannot feed their children. One man broke down in tears as he lamented the conversation he\u2019d had to have\u00a0with his 10 year-old African-American son.\u00a0It doesn\u2019t matter whether the officer is right,\u201d he said. \u201cYou do what he says because it\u2019s more important that you come home alive.\u201d<\/p>\nAs Brother Cornel West has said, hope is walking a tightrope in America.<\/p>\n\u201cSomebody\u2019s hurting my sister,\u201d Sister Yara Allen sings, \u201cand it\u2019s gone on far too long.\u201d<\/p>\nWithout a revival to hope America, many who live with their backs against the wall will succumb to despair.\u00a0But when we get together like we did again in Boston last night, and I look out and see black, white and brown, rich and poor, gay and straight, documented and undocumented coming\u00a0together around a moral agenda for the common\u00a0good, I know God is reviving the heart of democracy in this country.<\/p>\nAnd I know why Grandmama always smiled the way she did when she said she was going to hope somebody. Because as much as it\u2019s doing to build new coalitions and to\u00a0encourage moral fusion organizing around the country,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.moralrevival.org\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">this Moral Revival<\/a>\u00a0is hoping me.<\/p>\nPlease help us spread the word about\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.moralrevival.org\/therevivals\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">our next Moral Revival service in Washington, DC<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0August 28, 2016<\/span>.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9393\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9393\" style=\"width: 150px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/101\/2016\/04\/TPC_WilliamBarber_fbm-1.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9393\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-9393\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/101\/2016\/04\/TPC_WilliamBarber_fbm-1-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\"><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9393\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nRev. William Barber<\/strong>, II<\/strong> is President of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.breachrepairers.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" class=\" decorated-link\">Repairers of the Breach<\/a>, a sponsor of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moralrevival.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" class=\" decorated-link\">The Revival: Time for a Moral Revolution of Values<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Rev. Dr. William Barber When I was growing up in Eastern North Carolina, I used to love to sit in my grandmama\u2019s kitchen and listen to her sing as she made dinner. Whenever she was done cooking, she\u2019d give me a plate to eat. Then she and some of the other sisters from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1308],"tags":[1349,1408],"class_list":["post-9946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-common-good","tag-moral-revival"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>I Needed Somebody to Hope Me: An Update on the Moral Revival<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Rev. Dr. William Barber When I was growing up in Eastern North Carolina, I used to love to sit in my grandmama\u2019s kitchen and listen to her sing as she\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/2016\/08\/i-needed-somebody-to-hope-me-an-update-on-the-moral-revival\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I Needed Somebody to Hope Me: An Update on the Moral Revival\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Rev. Dr. William Barber When I was growing up in Eastern North Carolina, I used to love to sit in my grandmama\u2019s kitchen and listen to her sing as she\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/2016\/08\/i-needed-somebody-to-hope-me-an-update-on-the-moral-revival\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith Forward\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-09T23:06:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-08-19T20:12:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/files\/2016\/04\/TPC_WilliamBarber_fbm-1-150x150.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Guest Contributor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Guest Contributor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/2016\/08\/i-needed-somebody-to-hope-me-an-update-on-the-moral-revival\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/2016\/08\/i-needed-somebody-to-hope-me-an-update-on-the-moral-revival\/\",\"name\":\"I Needed Somebody to Hope Me: An Update on the Moral Revival\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-09T23:06:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-08-19T20:12:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2\"},\"description\":\"By Rev. Dr. William Barber When I was growing up in Eastern North Carolina, I used to love to sit in my grandmama\u2019s kitchen and listen to her sing as she\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/2016\/08\/i-needed-somebody-to-hope-me-an-update-on-the-moral-revival\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/2016\/08\/i-needed-somebody-to-hope-me-an-update-on-the-moral-revival\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/2016\/08\/i-needed-somebody-to-hope-me-an-update-on-the-moral-revival\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"I Needed Somebody to Hope Me: An Update on the Moral Revival\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/\",\"name\":\"Faith Forward\",\"description\":\"Voices from the Mainline, Progressive and Emerging Church\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2\",\"name\":\"Guest Contributor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Guest Contributor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"I Needed Somebody to Hope Me: An Update on the Moral Revival","description":"By Rev. Dr. William Barber When I was growing up in Eastern North Carolina, I used to love to sit in my grandmama\u2019s kitchen and listen to her sing as she","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/2016\/08\/i-needed-somebody-to-hope-me-an-update-on-the-moral-revival\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"I Needed Somebody to Hope Me: An Update on the Moral Revival","og_description":"By Rev. Dr. William Barber When I was growing up in Eastern North Carolina, I used to love to sit in my grandmama\u2019s kitchen and listen to her sing as she","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/2016\/08\/i-needed-somebody-to-hope-me-an-update-on-the-moral-revival\/","og_site_name":"Faith Forward","article_published_time":"2016-08-09T23:06:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-08-19T20:12:20+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/files\/2016\/04\/TPC_WilliamBarber_fbm-1-150x150.jpg"}],"author":"Guest Contributor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Guest Contributor","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/2016\/08\/i-needed-somebody-to-hope-me-an-update-on-the-moral-revival\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/2016\/08\/i-needed-somebody-to-hope-me-an-update-on-the-moral-revival\/","name":"I Needed Somebody to Hope Me: An Update on the Moral Revival","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-08-09T23:06:10+00:00","dateModified":"2016-08-19T20:12:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2"},"description":"By Rev. Dr. William Barber When I was growing up in Eastern North Carolina, I used to love to sit in my grandmama\u2019s kitchen and listen to her sing as she","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/2016\/08\/i-needed-somebody-to-hope-me-an-update-on-the-moral-revival\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/2016\/08\/i-needed-somebody-to-hope-me-an-update-on-the-moral-revival\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/2016\/08\/i-needed-somebody-to-hope-me-an-update-on-the-moral-revival\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"I Needed Somebody to Hope Me: An Update on the Moral Revival"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/","name":"Faith Forward","description":"Voices from the Mainline, Progressive and Emerging Church","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2","name":"Guest Contributor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Guest Contributor"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9946\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}