Overview:
• The Rev. William Barber II leads the Repairers of the Breach social justice organization.
• He said 1.2 million North Carolinians who could have voted stayed home in the 2024 election, while President Donald Trump won by 183,000 votes.
• Activists plan to march from Wilson to Raleigh beginning February 11, and rally in Raleigh on February 14.
People who want the government to take care of those in need and challenge Trump administration policies can make change by voting in the 2026 elections, the Rev. William Barber II said Thursday at Crossroads Church in Fayetteville.
The appearance by Barber, founder of Repairers of the Breach, was part of his organization’s “Love Forward Together Mobilization Tour” across the state to rally people on issues like poverty, health care, immigration, and voting rights. Barber is a longtime North Carolina civil rights and anti-poverty activist and is known for his “Moral Monday” weekly protests at the North Carolina General Assembly in years past.
A three-day march follows the tour, starting in Wilson on Wednesday, followed by a rally in Raleigh on February 14.
People have the power to make change, but too few use it, Barber said in a speech that was critical of the policies of the Trump administration and North Carolina’s Republican-controlled legislature.
“Did you know that in the 1st Congressional District alone, there are 566,000 people 18 years or older?” Barber said. “In 2024, 380,000 voted, but 185,000 didn’t vote. And Trump won only 11,000 votes” in the 1st District.
“And in North Carolina, the presidency was decided by 183,000 votes. But 1.2 million, poor and low wage people didn’t vote, 400,000 or so African Americans,” he said. “But the No. 1 reason people didn’t vote is they said nobody talked to them about the real matters like living wages and health care.”
Barber criticized Republican state lawmakers who acceded to President Donald Trump’s wishes to redraw the boundaries of the 1st Congressional District last year to make it more friendly for a Republican candidate.
The redistricting was panned as partisan gerrymandering, and Barber said voters can undermine it by turning out to vote.
“Since they bet that the redistricting would work if only 45% of the voters voted, well, what if we make that gerrymandering dummymandering by turning out more people than they ever expected?” Barber said.
“Dummymandering” is a political insider term for a partisan redistricting effort that backfires.
The 2026 elections are about policies for the future, Barber said.
He brought a 17-year-old mother from Fayetteville, Kimberly Rocha, to the podium with her baby, Brielle Towner.
“Most of us have lived the balance of our days, even if we live another 30 years,” Barber said. He pointed at Brielle. “But what kind of democracy do I want for her? What kind of society do I want for her? She’s three months old. What do I love for her? That’s the question.”
Several people from Cumberland County also spoke, touching on the costs of health insurance, immigration enforcement, and protesting Trump administration policies:
- Ariel Carlin said her health insurance premium rose by more than $200, and now is more than $500 per month.
- Dawn Langley of Fayetteville said she’s concerned about her adopted Hispanic son and what might happen if he’s snared in Trump’s immigration enforcement crackdown and stopped by agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
- “We choose life. We have peaceful protests,” said Carrol Olinger of Hope Mills. “We fight for human rights for all, because two are better than one. Together we rise against—we resist—fascism.”
Senior reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at pwoolverton@cityviewnc.com.
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