Moral Mondays founder Rev. Barber plans walk through Eastern NC as voting starts

The Rev. William Barber II has a busy February planned that includes a multi-day walk through North Carolina and a demonstration in Raleigh, as part of a campaign that started after Republicans redrew political maps to favor their party.

As part of that campaign, the civil rights activist from North Carolina joined fellow clergy members, some Democratic lawmakers and other North Carolinians on Tuesday for an hours-long “Prayer Vigil and People’s Hearing” that started in the General Assembly’s press room and continued outside the golden doors of the state House.

Referencing the 1968 Solidarity Day march led by Coretta Scott King two months after the assassination of her husband, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Barber said she sang before tens of thousands gathered peacefully at the Washington Monument.

“Before she said a word, she sang a song that they needed then and a song that we need now,” he said.

“Because with all this hate, all these lies, the untruth, unconstitutional, immoral actions, we need a spiritual visitation and a moral rejuvenation. We need a transformation. Something is off, way off, and we need the spirit of the Lord through us and in us and with us to do this,” he said.

The demonstrators then sang “Come By Here, My Lord,” or “Kumbaya” and shortly after moved to outside the legislative chambers.

There, demonstrators chanted for hours, prayed and shared stories while surrounded by candles and images of people who have died in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

Police later forced Barber and others to leave. A video shared with The News & Observer shows police told Barber the building was closed. Barber said he had been invited into the building by lawmakers and questioned whether that meant legislators could not meet with constituents after 5 p.m. Lawmakers often conduct business later in the evening.

Barber is president of Repairers of the Breach and a co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign. He is known for launching Moral Mondays, a series of protests involving nonviolent civil disobedience that later spread to other states. These protests have at times led to arrests at the legislature and the U.S. Capitol.

Beyond Tuesday’s vigil, the coalition plans a “This Is Our Selma” march from Wilson to Raleigh, scheduled for Feb. 11 to 13, and a statewide Moral March and Mass People’s Assembly on Valentine’s Day in Raleigh. It’s all part of a campaign dubbed “Love Forward Together.”

Barber told The N&O on Friday that the effort began after President Donald Trump called on leaders of Republican-controlled states to redraw congressional maps. In North Carolina, the General Assembly redrew the 1st Congressional District in a way that favored Republicans.

This maneuver is “immoral,” Barber said.

Republicans currently hold 10 of the state’s 14 U.S. House seats and are expected to gain another under the new maps.

Following the redistricting decision, Barber said, organizers began mobilizing statewide. He said the movement is not simply about protest, but about articulating a broader vision for North Carolina’s future.

“We’re not going to just go and have a protest to resist what Trump has done,” Barber said. “We’re going to lay out a vision for the kind of North Carolina we want, the kind of democracy we want — rooted in a love for the Constitution and a love for justice.”

Barber said the movement calls on people who support expanded voting rights, an end to poverty, a living wage, fully funded public education and health care access for all to join the effort. He also pointed to concerns about worker protections and federal law enforcement practices around immigration, particularly the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renée Good by federal agents in Minneapolis.

“Then join us, because what we have to do in this moment is love forward today,” Barber said.

The timeline for the upcoming march coincides with the start of early voting on Feb. 12. Barber said the timing was intentional, urging people to participate in what he described as a moral, not partisan, call to action.

“You need to raise your voice and vote your love,” he said.

Concerns over permit requirement in Raleigh

Barber told The N&O on Friday that members of his team met with Raleigh city officials earlier that day, after first approaching the city weeks earlier. During the meeting, Assistant City Manager Nikki Jones said the upcoming march on Saturday would be considered a parade and therefore would require 120 days’ notice to allow the use of a stage, Barber said.

“This is not a parade. This is the First Amendment,” Barber said.

“One person should not be able to stop thousands of people’s right to protest and exercise their rights under the federal and state constitutions,” Barber said. “There’s no reason a rule should trump that, because they should be making every accommodation they can.”

Barber said the march will move forward regardless.

The N&O reached out to Jones by phone and left a voicemail Friday. On Tuesday, city public information officer Julia Milstead said in an email that the city had been working with organizers since the beginning of the year and that “the details of their initial request required the type of permit that needs an application 120 days in advance. They did not file a request for that permit.”

“We have continued to work with the organizers, connecting them with the State for permits to use Capitol grounds and Halifax Mall. We also discussed and recognized their right to protest or march along Fayetteville Street, which does not require a permit. The City values and protects the right of its residents to peacefully protest. The Raleigh Police Department has always facilitated the safety of protesters and the community in these situations, as it will for this march.”

Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell asked city staff members Jan. 20 to review Raleigh’s protest policies, The N&O previously reported.

“This year there’s a lot happening at the national, international and local level, and we’ve had a number of people wanting to express their thoughts about those current events in the city of Raleigh,” Cowell said at the time. There may be a need to change rules, she said, “given the level of activity and public kind of debate and demonstration gong on right now.”

This story was originally published February 4, 2026 at 6:00 AM.

Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi

The News & Observer

Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi is a politics reporter for the News & Observer. She reports on health care, including mental health and Medicaid expansion, hurricane recovery efforts and lobbying. Luciana previously worked as a Roy W. Howard Fellow at Searchlight New Mexico, an investigative news organization.