BISHOP WILLIAM BARBER
LEAVING NC CHURCH TO
LEAD YALE DIVINITY PROGRAM
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
The pastor of Goldboro’s Greenleaf Christian Church DOC is leaving to lead the new Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at Yale Divinity School in New Haven, Conn.
Normally this wouldn’t be headline news, except the pastor is Bishop William J. Barber II, the acknowledged leader of the Moral Monday movement, founder - president of Repairers of the Breach, and co-convener of the Poor People’s Campaign - A National Call for a Moral Revival.
Bishop Barber will relinquish his role as pastor of Greenleaf Christian, a church in the Disciples of Christ faith, after 30 years, by the middle of next year.
In his new position as “professor in the practice of public theology and public policy,” Barber told Religion News Service (RNS) that he will formally begin teaching classes at Yale Divinity School in January. His goal is to produce the next generation of faith-inspired social justice religious leaders to impact the body politic for critical social change.
In its announcement Monday about the new Divinity School center, Yale News reported that it will “…pursue teaching, practice, research, and collaboration at the intersection of theology and advocacy,” all rooted in the philosophy of moral movements.”
“If we’re serious when we say the first goal of the society is to establish justice, or if we’re serious when we say the first premise of religion is love and justice and truth — that’s what we hope to bring, seed and propagate in the public square for this new Center for Public Theology and Public Policy,” he said.
“I want to share what I have learned,” he told RNS. “I believe one of the critical keys in this society is for pastors to understand how to be engaged in pastoral care, the priestly function of the pastorate, but also to be engaged in prophetic and public policy. All three of those things must go together.”
Planning to fully transition to Yale Divinity in June, Barber said “I love pastoring. I love the people. I love what it’s taught me. But I will not be selfish and not share (what I’ve learned) to generations coming.”
As director of the new center, Bishop Barber said there will be a liaison with HBCUs primarily in the South, to help connect students there connect with the new center’s programs.
“I extend congratulations to my friend, Bishop William Barber, on his selection to lead the Yale Divinity School’s new Center for Public Theology and Public Policy. I cannot think of anyone more suited for this role than him.” said Congressman G. K. Butterfield (D-NC-1) in a statement Monday.
“The movement that he spearheaded through his many years of grassroots advocacy to fight systemic racism, poverty, and other injustices is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the work he has done at the intersection of faith and advocacy.”
“His dedication and proven ability to build coalitions aimed at improving the lives of poor and low-income people around the world makes him deserving of this position,” Butterfield continued. “I applaud Yale Divinity School for making this momentous appointment.”
Bishop Barber is a highly recognized, highly respected social justice leader across the nation. He once led the NC NAACP as president from 2005 to 2017.
Last Thursday, Bishop Barber, by invitation, opened the legislative session of the U.S. House of Representatives with prayer.
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STEPHEN "tWitch" BOSS
BLACK SUICIDE RATE
IN NC IS ALARMING
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
To the outside world, it seemed like Stephen Laurel “tWitch” Boss had it all.
The handsome, 40 year-old entertainer had been the disc jockey, freestyle hiphop dancer, co-executive producer and co-host on the popular nationally syndicated “Ellen Degeneres Show” for several years. The Montgomery, Alabama native was discovered in 2008 on a dance game show, and subsequently proceeded to build a name for himself on various entertainment programs, including Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings.
But last Tuesday, December 13th, tWitch’s wife, Allison Holker, called Los Angeles Police, alerting them that her husband was missing and she couldn’t reach him. LAPD had also received a report of a gunshot at a local motel. Upon investigation, tWitch’s body was found in a motel room, apparently of suicide.
According to published reports, the popular dancer wrote in a suicide note that he was still dealing with “past challenges” in his life, even though he was successful, married with three children, and lived in a mansion.
And he wasn’t the only Black celebrity in 2022 to commit suicide. Ian King jr., son of Academy Award winning actress Regina King, and here in North Carolina, attorney and former Miss USA Cheslie Krsyst, also ended their lives in frustration.
Beyond the obvious tragedy of these three high-profiled Black suicides, is that it reminds us that the suicide rate across the country is alarmingly high, especially here in North Carolina, which has the fourth highest suicide rate for black teens in the country.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “…over 68,000 Black male, and nearly 95,000 Black female teens made a suicide attempt serious enough to require medical attention in 2017 alone.” More than 300 succeeded.
In 2019, the National Library of Medicine reported that among Black teenagers nationally, from 2001 to 2017, the rate of suicides increased 60% for males, and 182% for females.
The trend since the mid-1990s has been disturbing, most researchers agree, with suicide becoming the third leading cause of death for Black teenagers ages 15 to 19. In 2017, the News & Observer reported that Black high school students in North Carolina “…attempted suicide at more than twice the rate of white high school students (11.1% vs 5.1%), according to the NC Child Health Report Card.
During the pandemic, there were key concerns that there was a “grave toll on the mental health of young people across North Carolina” reported NC Health News, especially on those unable to go to school. In March 2021, while there are no complete numbers per youth deaths, “…children in North Carolina were hospitalized for self-harm injuries, including suicide attempts, slightly less [in 2020] than in 2019,” according to the NC Dept of Health and Human Services.
If the above isn’t depressing enough, the Suicide Prevention Resource Center reports that while Blacks “…commit suicide at a much lower rate than the overall average U.S. suicide rate,” A West Virginia University researcher believes “…Black American deaths are 2.3 times more likely than white deaths to be classified as “undetermined” at the time they occur,” reported NewsOne in June 2022.
Researchers say the reason for the problem is the Black community’s overall ignorance of mental health issues, and how to access the critical resources needed to address them.
Patrice Harris, MD, with the online health guide Everyday Health, offers five reasons for an uptick in suicides among African-Americans, especially Black youth.
First, the pressure from an increasingly pervasive social media. “Although there is no one causal factor for this, it is important to remember that we live in an age where most people are connected to social media, which comes with the pressure to create an image like we’re living perfect lives. This is especially true for our young people who might feel extreme pressure to live a certain kind of life or compete with their peers' appearance,” Dr. Harris says.
Secondly, mental health stigma impedes Black People from seeking help.
"There's a stigma [in the Black community] that if you have a mental disorder, it's a sign of a character flaw or weakness instead of what it truly is: a diagnosis that can be treated and managed.”
Third - treatment is often less accessible to African-Americans.
Dr. Harris cites lack of access to quality medial insurance and education about how to locate a quality, culturally conscious medical provider.
Fourth - Black people continually face racism and discrimination in their lives, resulting in emotional trauma from those experiences.
And Fifth - Black people being consistently exposed to violence in their communities. Compared to whites, African-Americans see a disproportionate about of real violence in their neighborhoods, which could contribute to a helpless sense of worthlessness.
If you or someone you know needs help, "The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a national network of local crisis centers that provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”
Call 988, or Text GO to 741741 to reach a trained Crisis Counselor through Crisis Text Line, a global not-for-profit organization. Free, 24/7, confidential.
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FINAL RULINGS BY 2022
NC SUPREME COURT MEAN
LITTLE TO NEW GOP COURT
An Analysis
By Cash Michaels
As if they were leaving a final word before going out the door, the Democratic majority of the NC Supreme Court last Friday handed down two highly anticipated decisions that voting rights advocates had been waiting for.
In two 4-3 decisions, the Democratic High Court both struck down a state Senate redistricting map that it ruled was a “…stark partisan asymmetry in violation of the fundamental right to vote on equal terms.” That map was allowed to be used for the 2022 midterm elections that saw the Republicans in the state Senate win a supermajority, thus now being able to counter any veto Gov. Roy Cooper threatens over legislation he doesn’t like.
The Democratic justices ordered a lower court to change the Senate map to meet “constitutional compliance” for future elections.
Those same four Democratic justices - two of whom will be officially leaving the court at the stroke of 12 on January 1st, 2023, also voted in the majority to throw out North Carolina’s 2018 voter photo identification law.
Led by Democrat Associate Justice Anita Earls, the Democrat majority found that the 2018 voter ID law discriminated against Black voters.
“…the experiences of plaintiffs and other witnesses at trial showed that for themselves and others like them, the risk of disenfranchisement is very real,” Associate Justice Earls wrote in the majority decision. “But the guarantee of equal protection of the laws means that a law enacted with the intent to discriminate on the basis of race is unconstitutional even if no voter ultimately is disenfranchised because ‘…racial classifications of any sort pose the risk of lasting harm to our society.”
As was no surprise, the three Republican associate justices on the state High Court not only dissented mightily, but accused their Democratic colleagues of legislating from the bench, making it clear that it was not their place.
But make no mistake, the Republican majority in the state legislature will not allow these two Democratic rulings to last for long.
GOP NC Senate Majority leader Phil Berger has already indicated that his new supermajority will vote on new redistricting maps, and a new voter ID law when they get back into session next month.
And if either the Democrats or progressive groups want to challenge new maps or new voting identification requirements in court, Berger is assured that there will be Republican majorities at the state appellate court and state Supreme Court starting in January , and for the foreseeable future to rule in a more favorable fashion.
Keep in mind that Republicans will constitute a 5-2 majority on the state Supreme Court come January 1st. And the GOP is hoping that the 6-3 conservative U.S. Supreme Court will agree with them that only the legislature constitutionally has the final word when it comes to federal election decisions, not the state Supreme Court.
So going into the New Year 2023, North Carolina Democrats find themselves with limited options for countering the virtual state government takeover by Republicans at every level.
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has two more years left in office, and his power can be countered by a Republican supermajority in the state Senate, and a Republican near supermajority in the state House.
With both the NC Court of Appeals and the state Supreme Court also dominated by Republicans, there is no telling what other Democratic legislative priorities will be turned on their heads, starting January 1st.
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