Despite Electoral Defeat, Rev. Barber Touts “Forward Together” Triumph

Isaiah J. Poole

Rev. William Barber II’s new book, “Forward Together: A Moral Message To The Nation,” traces the advance of the Moral Mondays movement in North Carolina, which rose up in response to the right-wing takeover of the North Carolina state government in 2012. But what it doesn’t include is what movement participants hoped would be an electoral triumph: the defeat of state House Speaker Thom Tillis, who pushed a series of hard-right initiatives though the legislature, in his race for the U.S. Senate.

That triumph didn’t happen. But Barber, in an interview weeks later, said the results would still add a positive chapter to the book.