North Carolina’s thunderous Civil Rights titan Rev. William J. Barber II will deliver the homily at the inaugural prayer service for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris this week.
Barber’s role in the ceremony was announced Tuesday by Biden’s inaugural committee, according to The Washington Post.
Barber, 57, rose to fame organizing Moral Mondays, a series of protests that began in 2013 at the state legislature to call out Republican leaders for failing to uplift the poor, fund education, and enact racial equity reforms. Through his work with the Poor People’s Campaign and the NAACP, Barber has built a strong coalition of political and religious leaders on the left.
He’s also just a badass. He was arrested in 2017 for refusing to stand down during a protest and was subsequently banned from the legislature building.
The prayer service will take place at 10 a.m. on Thursday, the day after Biden and Harris are sworn in. It will be livestreamed.
The interfaith service will feature a slate of other religious leaders, including Sojourners founder Rev. Jim Wallis, Affordable Care Act advocate Sister Carol Keehan, and Chicago’s Rev. Otis Moss III. North Carolina Rev. Robert Wright Lee IV will also participate.
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