Reverend Barber calls us to conscience

I loved reading this article in Sojourners about the Poor People's Campaign because it is reflective of my experience of Reverend Barber. The beginning of the article tells a story of Rev. Barber sternly asking people at a Poor People's Campaign gathering to take a knee instead of gleefully celebrating at the event. Similarly, on a Skype call for the movement a few weeks ago, Rev. Barber reminded people that as joyful as we may be about coming together to do justice, we must also hold in our hearts are pain of the bombs we had dropped on Syria the night before. It was a moment that will stick with me because I do relish in opportunities to do justice. Rev. Barber reminds us that we must decenter ourselves in the work and center those on the margins, those whose experience is decidedly less joyful. Last night I had the honor of hearing him preach at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, the church that President Lincoln attended and that was at the heart of the original Poor People's Campaign. Rev. Barber preached from the same pulpit that Dr. King had preached from fifty years ago. What a powerful reminder that we are picking up the baton; the work we do matters. We must take it, though not necessarily ourselves, very seriously.