Rev. Barber: Going Against the Majority Rule for the Greater Good

One of North Carolina's most vocal social advocates says change only comes when you live above the 'snake line'.

Reverend William J. Barber II is the president of North Carolina's NAACP chapter. Tuesday morning, he was in Winston-Salem speaking to students, faculty and guests at Wake Forest University. Since April 2013, he's led the state's Moral Monday Movement and has aggressively opposed many of the new laws passed by the Republican legislature.

This week, he used the Labor Day holiday to call for an immediate wage increase for thousands of the state's working poor. Barber also believes people of faith have a mandate to help change laws and social policies that oppress other. “The true representation of the kind of deep love that Jesus calls us to make, it is our burden, our calling to be mindful of the poor, the weak and those on the sidelines of life," explains Barber. "Not only mindful, but to be in the arena fighting against the in domination that calls it and we cannot escape this call.”

Barber was the featured speaker of the Fall Convocation for WFU's School of Divinity. The event formally welcomes its students. This was also the inaugural event of of the Mac Bryan Prophetic Preaching Series. It honors the late George McLeod “Mac” Bryan Sr., a professor of religion at Wake Forest for 37 years. In addition to teaching courses on feminism, religion and science, and liberation theology, Bryan advocated for civil rights, pursued social reform, and helped to integrate Wake Forest College in the 1960's. The series encourages students to live and serve at the intersection of Christianity and social justice.