EDITOR’S NOTE: Several weeks ago, Shane Claiborne and Tony Campolo interviewed Rev. William Barber about his conviction that America is in the embryonic stages of a Third Reconstruction. Since then, Rev. Barber has joined Rev. James Forbes, Sister Simone of “Nuns on the Bus, ” Rev. Traci Blackmon and local faith leaders in seventeen states, to launch The Revival: Time for a Moral Revolution of Values (Click here to see when The Revival will be near you.)
The Revival is gathering people of faith to hear the cries of people directly affected by immoral policy. At a recent service in Atlanta on May 23rd, the testimony below highlighted why comprehensive immigration reform is urgent and important.
Hundreds of Americans have already responded to an altar call at The Revival, signing on to the Higher Ground Moral Declaration that offers an agenda for the common good beyond America’s left vs right, conservative vs liberal divide. You can read the full declaration and add you name here. Stay tuned for further testimonies and exhortations from the #MoralRevival here on RLC.
Watch the testimony here:
Calling someone an “illegal alien” is dehumanizing. I know. At age seven I was labeled this and I believed that I was not human and of less value than other people. At age nine I had learned to identify unmarked police cars where raids in our neighborhood were occurring. Police represented not a positive force but a threat to my family’s very existence in the United States.
At age sixteen, I learned that the top five universities in Georgia would not even consider my application to college because I was undocumented. These universities were the same ones in the 1960’s that refused to allow Black people to attend during that time. The other universities in Georgia that would consider my application would do so only on the condition that I pay out of state tuition, three times the rate of in state tuition. As a result of this discrimination, I went to Freedom University instead.
Freedom University is based in Atlanta and provides a tuition-free education and social movement leadership training to undocumented students banned from public higher education in Georgia. As a result, I have become a passionate activist and social worker. We must give our people hope and chart a course toward unity for the good of all.
Click here to sign the Higher Ground Moral Declaration