Transcript provided by TrueBlueMajority



Put it in the body of the diary if you want.

The Rev. Dr. William Barber, II

Charge to the 103rd Annual Convention of the NAACP

July 11, 2011

Good morning, NAACP

we certainly thank God for his grace

and to our Chair who has called us to be the face of hope

our President and CEO who has charged us to remind ourselves

that there are more with us than there are against us

to all the members of the National Political Action Committee

and to all the members of the staff

and to our vice chair and this convention chairman

Why are we here this morning in this plenary

and not in a workshop on voting rights?

In the testimony circle of my faith tradition

the saints often declare

if we ever needed the Lord we sure do need him now

I want to in the tradition of the hip hop tradition

sample from that faith tradition and say

if we ever needed to vote

we sure do need to vote now

for us the right to vote is not just a constitutional matter

but a right borne out of struggle out of sacrifice

and a gift from the God of justice

who 2600 years ago had his prophet say to every nation

you must do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly before your God

and 2000 years ago had his Son say

that the least of these must be at the center of public policy

think for a moment where we are in the time in which we are in

and you will understand why

if we never ever needed to vote we sure do need to vote now

here we are today, Sister Dukes

393 years since the first ship landed in Virginia to bring slaves

here we are Sister Coleman

where 242 years ago Crispus Attucks was the first African American

to die fighting for this country

236 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence

225 years since the Constitution was adopted

225 years since we were fractionized in that Constitution

and called three-fifths of a person

183 years since Mexico outlawed slavery

and 176 years since Texas revolted

because they wanted to keep their slaves

163 years since Harriet Tubman escaped slavery

160 years since Frederick Douglass

since somebody just quoted him

actually delivered in his...

actually delivered in his 4th of July speech

that America's July 4th celebrations were fraud bombast hypocrisy

until America did right by the sons and daughters of slaves

149 years since the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation

147 years since the end of the Civil war

142 years since the ratification of the 15th Amendment

118 years since the riots of Wilmington North Carolina to stop black political power

108 years since the riots in Springfield Illinois

68 years since Smith v. Allwright opened up primaries for black people

68 years since Primus King was denied the right to vote in Georgia in a primary

58 years since Brown v. Board of Education

57 since the brutal murder of Emmitt Till

52 since the sit ins in Greensboro organized by A&T and Bennett students

46 years after Barbara Jordan was the first African American to sit in the Texas Senate

48 years since Fannie Lou Hamer said there comes a time

when you get sick and tired of being sick and tired

51 years since Dr. King said to the AFL CIO

that the only voting bloc that could transform america

would be for blacks and labor and poor whites and latinos

to learn how to work together

49 years since the murder of Medgar Evers

49 years since the March on Washington

49 years since the bombing of four girls in a Birmingham church

48 years since the signing of the Civil Rights Act

47 years since Bloody Sunday

47 years since the Voting Rights act

47 years since Malcolm X was killed

44 years since students at South Carolina State were massacred

44 years since the assassination of Martin Luther King

44 years since the signing of the Fair Housing Act

43 years since conservatives dismantled the Office of Economic Opportunity

43 years since my parents fought to integrate public schools

3 years since Barack whose name means Praise the Lord

was sworn in to be President of these United States

8 years since James Johnson was wrongfully incarcerated

6 years since John [Menier?] was wrongfully incarcerated

One year since Troy Davis was murdered by the state

4 months and 11 days since the shooting of Trayvon Martin

4 months since the secret documents revealed by the National Organization on Marriage

that they started the same sex marriage fight not for moral reasons

but to split the black and LGBT community

in order to defeat President Obama

We have been through too much

and seen too much

and fought for too much

If we ever needed to vote...!

that's why you're here

but there's one more piece

not only have we been through too much

there's still too much to fight

27.4% of African Americans in poverty

12 million children red yellow black and white in poverty

27 million Americans unemployed

14% of African Americans unemployed

49 million Americans uninsured

1 out of every 5 African Americans uninsured

one million African Americans incarcerated

Politicians can say "elect me and I'll take your healthcare"

"elect me and I'll take your voting rights"

"elect me and I'll take your social security"

"elect me and I'll resegregate your public schools"

"elect me and I'll ignore your poverty"

and still get votes!

Here we are

22 million African Americans eligible to vote

and yet 8 million didn't vote

1% of the population controls 42% of the wealth

10% of the population controls 93% of the wealth

117 days until election day

and across this nation there are tough times

we've seen an implosion of our economy

despite the evidence there are those who want to give pity to billionaires

and inflict more pain on the poor

we see politicians that pander to bigots and race baiting

those who have been forced to get on welfare

never in history has so much money been spent to resist equality

the gross sums of money being spent to take us backwards

is lewd, is pornographic is blatant and is arrogant

these are troubling times

corporation are treated like people

people are treated like things

banks get bailouts from loans with our money with no interest

and the banks turn around

and lend us our money back to us with interest

these are critical times

and if we ever needed to vote

we sure do need to vote now

I don't know if Republicans are going to show up

I don't know if Democrats are going to show up

but the sons and daughters of slaves we better the hell show up!

That's why we're here

Our parents did more with less than we have today

with less they beat slavery

with less they beat Jim Crow

with less they beat lynching

with less they beat the KKK

with less Harriet Tubman got 500 slaves out of slavery

she didn't have email

she didn't have text facebook

she didn't have [???]

she didn't have texting

she even know what Twitter was

she didn't have a car

but she had faith in God

a 38 pistol on her side

moss on the north side of a tree

and a north star in the middle of the night

she did more with less

we must do more with more

so from now until November

email everybody you know

tell em to show up

cause if we ever needed to vote,

we sure do need to vote now

text everybody

tell em to show up

myspace everybody

tell em to show up

take some of them friends you don't need to have off Facebook

and get some real friends up there

tell them to show up

call everybody you know

knock on everybody's door

I don't know how to tweet

but my children or daughter can tweet

I told them to tweet tweet tweet,

tweet tweet

tweet every body you know!

because God is not going to do for us what we can do for ourselves

if we ever needed to vote,

we sure need to vote now

and when we do Leon what we are supposed to do

God will show up

God will bless our efforts

he always has

he always will

when we work our faith

miracles and movements

faith is what you believe about God

works is what you do because of what you believe about God

faith without works is destitute and devoid

but faith with works is dynamic and can change a destiny

whenever we work our faith, God shows up

when Moses stretched out his rod

God showed up

the wind came down

the Red Sea opened up

Pharoah was brought down

when they marched around Jericho

God showed up

walls fell down

when David threw the rock

God showed up

Goliath came down

when Daniel

went in the lions' den

God showed up

the lions calmed down

when Esther

went to see the King

God showed up

evil plans were turned around

when a woman

touched the hem of his garment

God showed up

blood disease slowed down

when a boy

gave the lord fish

five loaves

God showed up

and a buffet came down

when Jesus went to the cross God showed up

Satan's kingdom was torn down

early Sunday morning resurrection happened

and the angels had a holy ghost throwdown

when Thurgood Marshall went to the supreme court

and America's segregation was brought down

when Rosa Parks sat down

God showed up

Jim Crow had to step down

if we vote

the tea party will be voted down

every time we put our faith and our works together

evil is shut down

God shows up!

I got a question for the NAACP

Do I have a witness?

Won't God show up?

Won't God show up?

Won't God show up?

What's in your hands?

What's in your hands?

Use what you got—

God will give you what you need!

Won't he show up?

Won't he show up?

If I was in North Carolina I'd say say yeah

say yeah

say yeah yeah yeah yeah

now tell your neighbor, "neighbor

if we ever needed to vote

we sure enough sure enough sure enough

need to vote!

right now!"

and God!

will!

show!

up!

@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@

While you are standing, get out your cell phones

and text somebody right now

and text them, if ever needed to vote

we sure do need to vote right now

in fact stand up when you text them,

so the whole world can see

or tweet tweet

tweet, tweet it, tweet it!

if you ever needed to vote

if we ever need to vote

we sure do need to vote right now

cause God will not do for us

he just won't do it

what we have to do for ourselves

but if we do our part, God will show up

won't he show up?

now, as you are seated

in the tradition of faith that I am in, we have a charge

but after the charge there is never a walking away

the charge gives us clarity about "why"

but there is always a strategy session on "how"

cause we have to hook excitement to the strategy

so now the strategy...

he introduces the panel

