William Barber II

== Activism ==
Beginning in April 2013, Barber led regular "[[Moral Mondays]]" civil-rights protests in North Carolina's state capital, [[Raleigh, North Carolina|Raleigh]].<ref name="MotherJonesApril2014">{{cite news|author=Rab, Lisa|magazine=Mother Jones|title=Meet the Preacher Behind Moral Mondays|url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/04/william-barber-moral-monday-north-carolina|date=April 14, 2014|access-date=July 27, 2014|archive-date=July 15, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715122846/http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/04/william-barber-moral-monday-north-carolina|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' credited Barber's NAACP chapter with forming a coalition in 2007 named Historic Thousands on Jones Street People's Assembly, composed of 93 North Carolina advocacy groups. "With this changing demographic, we had to operate in coalition", Barber was quoted as saying.<ref name="WSJ-June2010">{{cite news|title=U.S. Nears Racial Milestone|author=Dougherty, Conor|url=https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704312104575298512006681060|newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|date=June 11, 2010|page=A3|access-date=July 27, 2014|archive-date=July 15, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715223859/http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704312104575298512006681060?|url-status=live}}</ref> Historian and professor [[Timothy Tyson]] named Barber, "the most important progressive political leader in this state in generations", saying that he "built a statewide interracial fusion political coalition that has not been seriously attempted since 1900".<ref name="TheCrisisJan2011">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.questia.com/read/1P3-2385597691 |title=Rev. William Barber: The Gospel Truth |last=Wiggins |first=Lori |magazine=[[The Crisis]] |date=January 1, 2011 |access-date=July 28, 2014 }}</ref> An article in the ''[[Michigan State Law Review]]'',<ref name="MichStLRev-2011">{{cite journal |title=Confronting Race: How a Confluence of Social Movements Convinced North Carolina To Go Where the McCleskey Court Wouldn't |journal=[[Michigan State Law Review]] |date=July 12, 2011 |last1=O'Brien |first1=Barbara |last2=Grosso |first2=Catherine M. |volume=2011 |pages=463–504 |url=http://www.msulawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/2011-3_Grosso-OBrien.pdf |access-date=July 28, 2014 |archive-date=July 28, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728134042/http://www.msulawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/2011-3_Grosso-OBrien.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> "Confronting Race: How a Confluence of Social Movements Convinced North Carolina to Go where the McCleskey Court Wouldn't" credits him with bringing together a statewide political coalition. He "has become as well known [in North Carolina] as [Governor] [[Pat McCrory]] and Republican leaders of the House and Senate", according to a 2013 ''[[The Huffington Post|Huffington Post]]'' profile of him.<ref name="HuffPost-July2013">{{cite web|last=Shimron|first=Yonat|title=Rev. William Barber II: Moral Monday Leader In North Carolina Is Pastor, NAACP Chapter President|website=The Huffington Post|date=June 25, 2013|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/25/rev-william-barber-moral-mondays_n_3495176.html|access-date=July 30, 2014|archive-date=August 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812033329/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/25/rev-william-barber-moral-mondays_n_3495176.html|url-status=live}}</ref> He traveled with NAACP President and CEO [[Benjamin Todd Jealous]] to meet with Georgia prison officials.<ref name="Naacp.org_August_7_2014c">{{cite web |url=http://www.naacp.org/news/entry/president-jealous-and-naacp-leaders-visit-john-mcneil |title=President Jealous and NAACP Leaders Visit John McNeil |newspaper=NAACP |date=September 10, 2012 |access-date=August 7, 2014 |archive-date=August 8, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808132713/http://www.naacp.org/news/entry/president-jealous-and-naacp-leaders-visit-john-mcneil |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2014, he founded Repairers of the Breach, a [[501(c)(3)]] non-profit organization "formed to educate and train religious and other leaders of faith who will pursue policies and organizational strategies for the good of the whole and to educate the public about connections between shared religious faith".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.guidestar.org/profile/46-3332424|title=Guidestar Profile|website=Guidestar|access-date=September 1, 2017|archive-date=September 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170901203219/https://www.guidestar.org/profile/46-3332424|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2016, he delivered a speech at the [[2016 Democratic National Convention|Democratic National Convention]]; the address was described as rousing and was well received.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/07/28/the-rev-william-barber-dropped-the-mic/|title=The Rev. William Barber dropped the mic|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=July 29, 2016|archive-date=July 30, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160730232009/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/07/28/the-rev-william-barber-dropped-the-mic/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/americans-whod-never-heard-of-reverend-william-barber-ii-wont-be-able-to-forget-him-after-last-night/|title=Americans Who'd Never Heard of Reverend William Barber II Won't Be Able to Forget Him After Last Night|date=July 28, 2016|newspaper=The Nation|issn=0027-8378|access-date=July 29, 2016|archive-date=August 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814205216/https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/americans-whod-never-heard-of-reverend-william-barber-ii-wont-be-able-to-forget-him-after-last-night/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/rev-william-barber-rattles-windows-shakes-walls-dnc-n619456|title=Rev. William Barber rattles the windows and shakes the walls at the DNC|date=July 28, 2016|publisher=NBC News|access-date=July 29, 2016|archive-date=July 30, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160730160218/http://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/rev-william-barber-rattles-windows-shakes-walls-dnc-n619456|url-status=live}}</ref>

On May 30, 2017, Barber was arrested after refusing to leave the [[North Carolina State Legislative Building]] during a protest over health care legislation. The following month, a state magistrate banned Barber and the other protesters from entering the Legislative Building. Barber and his lawyers contend that the ban is unconstitutional, because the [[Constitution of North Carolina|state constitution]] guarantees citizens the right to assemble to communicate with their legislators.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://wnct.com/2017/06/17/naacps-rev-barber-banned-from-legislative-building/|title=NAACP's Rev. Barber banned from Legislative Building|publisher=WNCT|date=June 17, 2017|access-date=June 19, 2017|archive-date=June 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170618035120/http://wnct.com/2017/06/17/naacps-rev-barber-banned-from-legislative-building/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In May 2017, Barber announced he would step down from the state NAACP presidency to lead "a new '[[Poor People's Campaign]]'",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/rev-william-barber-is-bringing-mlks-poor-peoples-campaign-back-to-life/|title=The Rev. William Barber Is Bringing MLK's Poor People's Campaign Back to Life|last=McClain|first=Dani|magazine=The Nation|date=May 19, 2017|access-date=June 7, 2017|archive-date=May 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170522174346/https://www.thenation.com/article/rev-william-barber-is-bringing-mlks-poor-peoples-campaign-back-to-life/|url-status=live}}</ref> named [[Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for a Moral Revival]] in honour of the original 1968 campaign founded by [[Martin Luther King Jr.]]

In July 2021, Barber called for a "season of nonviolent direct action" to bring attention to threats to democracy in the U.S.. He was arrested alongside hundreds of others in Washington, D.C., on August 2 in a peaceful protest for voting rights and higher wages.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Quillin|first=Martha|date=August 3, 2021|title=Rev. Barber, hundreds more arrested at DC protest for voting rights, higher wages|work=The News & Observer|url=https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article253205123.html|access-date=August 4, 2021|archive-date=August 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804194047/https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article253205123.html|url-status=live}}</ref>