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Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II

9 Apr, 14 tweets, 3 min read

If we want corporations to step up, every civil rights organization that has received donations from corporations must now ask the same corporations, "Are you supporting the U.S. Senators who have blocked restoration of the Voting Rights Act for over 7 years and 9 months?

Have you given to ALEC, the group that is promoting voter suppression bills in state houses across the U.S.?”

breachrepairers.org/blogs/if-we-ar…

If corporations speak out against voting laws and give social contributions to civil rights organizations but still invest in the Senators who are blocking the restoration of federal voting rights protections, then their public statements are just image management.

They must put their money where their mouth is, otherwise they remain co-conspirators with the political forces we are battling. And no amount of contribution should keep us from calling them out publicly.

When Major League Baseball moves from Atlanta to Denver, they still make money. But Georgia loses money. Many poor and low-income people who are Black get hurt.

npr.org/2021/04/06/984…

MLB claims they did it b/c they're anti-voter suppression, but if those same execs still give money to support the campaigns of Senators blocking full restoration of the VRA, which would stop these laws through pre-clearance, they're merely playing a game of Three-card Monte.

If they still support the Senators who are filibustering federal expansion of voting rights, they are not acting with integrity.

If you support the Black community and voting rights in public but behind the scenes are still enabling McConnell’s interposition and nullification, you are ultimately siding with the long game of #JimCrow and his more sophisticated son, James Crow, Esquire.

We have to remember, as Dr. King said, the extreme aristocracy, the corporate elite, and the ruling class have always opposed full participation in this democracy.

Here's an example: Amazon announced June 3, 2020, it would give $10mil to certain orgs in support of Black lives. But that same week Amazon announced it was cutting hazard pay & blocking union rights of Black lives & Black bodies working in its warehouses.
usatoday.com/story/money/20…

Social giving can never buy corporate interests a pass on policies that enlarge justice and human rights.

If we aren’t willing to have this conversation and make these demands, then the seriousness of our efforts and our claim to call out corporations remains terribly suspect.

The fight for voting rights is a race and class struggle, not just a race struggle. It is a struggle for this democracy and a battle against the ruling elites, not just a battle against the denial of Black people.

In this moment, all of us should read in entirety and listen deeply to Dr. King’s analysis at the end of the Selma-to-Montgomery march and take heed:

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More from @RevDrBarber

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II

@RevDrBarber

9 Apr

The Amazon workers who voted for a union in Bessemer are already winners. This is just the first round. Amazon did things to intimidate & suppress the vote. The workers are filing complaints, & they will continue to stand up.

They have set a fresh trend in the South, and the echoes of their bold action will reverberate for years.

In North Carolina, it took several years for us to unionize the Smithfield plant, the world's largest hog processing plant. Like them, the Bessemer workers will eventually win the vote.

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Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II

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"What will you give me?" is the question too many politicians ask, and they'll sell out the people they were elected to serve for some corporate money. #PalmSunday

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Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II

@RevDrBarber

25 Mar

If they have to, Democrats must call Sinema & Manchin's bluff. Even if they go over & join Republicans, Democrats have the House & the WH. Their coalition can’t get anything passed. Let them be fully exposed. Force them out in the open for betraying the people who elected them.

And then use their exposure to push for everyone to vote in 2022 to get enough Senate seats to break the filibuster & immediately pass living wages, massive infrastructure bill, addressing poverty, healthcare, & fill all vacancies.

Don’t let Manchin & Sinema stop voting rights & living wages. These are not just "Black issues." We shouldn't be talking about the fight to expand voting rights as only a Black racial issue. Dr. King & the marchers from Selma-to-Montgomery didn’t then & we shouldn’t now.

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Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II

@RevDrBarber

24 Mar

We need more than a narrow exception to the filibuster. We need a Senate that functions. The filibuster is not an original part of the Constitution. It is a tool created by an all-white male Senate that cared more about pats on the back than people.

The filibuster has been used against civil rights & economic justice & labor rights, impacting poor & low-wealth Black, brown, native, white & Asian people.

Democrats who claim they want to protect “minority rights” in the Senate must be asked why they insist on catering to the extremist minority that has taken over the Republican Party.

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Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II

@RevDrBarber

18 Mar

I am going to Atlanta this weekend to preach at the church where MLK pastored when he called for a “revolution of values.” Georgia is showing the nation how desperately this message is needed.

Since King’s assassination, Republicans have used the language of “biblical values” to pit white Christians against non-white neighbors, betting that they could hold onto power by building a white voting bloc.

But demographics & expanded voting rights changed the balance of power. Lies that were told to white Christians are exploding in violence like we saw in the young white man’s attack against Asian women this week. But the same extremism drives voter suppression in GA statehouse.

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Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II

@RevDrBarber

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