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RALEIGH – Reverend William Barber, one of the newest award recipients known as the Engineering Grant, said Thursday that becoming a MacArthur Fellow in 2018 meant that he had more work to do. to do, not less.
That's why he took part in the "Fight for $ 15" demonstration in front of McDonald's headquarters in Chicago on Thursday, the day he was canceled, the day the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced the 25 MacArthur Fellows of this event. year.
Each beneficiary will receive $ 625,000 over five years for use as they see fit.
"They do not share these subsidies, so you have to sit down," Barber said in a phone interview Thursday. "They hope and believe you will do more things."
The foundation noted that Barber "is effective at building exceptionally inclusive multiracial and interreligious coalitions, which affect different classes of sex, age and class, and are dedicated to the fight against poverty, inequality and inequality. and systemic racism "
Barber, 55, and Minister of Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, made his first appearance to the public when he was elected president of the NAACP chapter in 2005. He launched the "Moral Monday" movement. in North Carolina in 2013. and has led numerous events on issues such as the right to vote, gerrymandering, LGBTQ rights and unions.
Barber is now co-chair of the Campaign for the Poor, a revival of the movement launched by Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. just prior to the assassination of the civil rights leader in April 1968.
"The message of a price like this is to keep going, keep fighting, do not despair, anyone sees you," said Barber, who was arrested at least 15 times.
Barber has not yet decided how he will use this money, although he has draft plans.
"One of the things I've always wanted to do is go to places where people do not have the resources to help you and help empower communities," he said.
Vice President Al Gore, who attended events with him in August in North Carolina, was among Barber's congratulations on Thursday. Ecological devastation is one of the main goals of the poor people's campaign, one of the main interests of Gore, who shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for his campaign for the protection of the environment.
"No one is more deserving," tweeted Gore.
Barber described his work as "a long struggle. This will continue to be a fight. "
Barber added, "I do it because it's not about what you need to suffer but how you help others who are suffering, who do not need you to do things for them but need you to stand with them. "
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