A call to revolutionary love

Last night, Rev. Dr. William Barber spoke to the AAR. I thought perhaps, because this is an academic setting, that Rev. Barber may be more reserved and abstract. Maybe even take a few questions from the audience. Who was I kidding? It was a stirring manifesto, inspiring those of us gathered to rise to the sitz in leben and mobilize for revolutionary love. There were so many things he said. He challenged us to no longer use the left-right dichotomy. After all, why do you have to find yourself having to call those who you deeply disagree with the "right"? Nor should we continue identifying ourselves as either conservative or liberal. After all, don't we all want to conserve justice and desire liberty for all? He challenged us to reclaim moral language in the public square. It's not about conservative or progressive but right and wrong. How does this policy demonstrate love? How does this budget demonstrate love? How does this rhetoric demonstrate love? Are the poor and vulnerable at the center of the nation's concern or not? He appreciated the academy for all it does to train and form students, and to provide the necessary analysis in order to confront racism and classism in our nation. But he also urged the academy to get out of the class room and to reclaim the public square, taking the risk of being accused of "political religiosity." After all, progressive movements have always been fueled by moral language. He suggested that maybe in a few years the AAR convention will need to convene at the White House. He said so much else, so much I'm still trying to absorb. I will say that his address was a stirring, cathartic, and above all hopeful vision of what can happen, a third reconstruction of America.