William Barber on Recruiting Low-wage Voters, Biden’s Record on Poverty

(RNS) — At the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, New York, the preacher is often aided in his delivery by blasts from the organ that emphasize his points. On Sunday (Jan. 14), the speaker hardly needed the help. “We need a shaking in this country,”& declared& the Rev. William Barber, the Disciples of Christ pastor and civil rights organizer, to emphatic applause. “Until low-wage workers are paid, we need to shake some things up! Until everybody has affordable housing, we need to shake things up!” Barber told the packed congregation, bringing them to their feet. His sermon at Abyssinian was part of a monthlong speaking tour Barber is undertaking to put poverty reduction on the agenda in this election year. It echoed the homily he delivered three years ago at a prayer service for President Biden’s inauguration, where Barber said a “third reconstruction” was needed to address ecological devastation, systemic racism and poverty. He has since expressed disappointment that the White House has not pushed hard enough for results on poverty in particular. This time around, he said, prioritizing poor and low-wage workers is nonnegotiable. His intended audience is not only policymakers, but 15 million of the poor and...