On May 28, DocDawg nominated the following short speech of Rev. Dr. William Barber, II, for transcription. Regarding “When the Stones Come Together.” DocDawg said “Here’s an even more moving Barber speech which is well deserving of transcription … although the catch there would be that no transcript could possibly capture its powerful emotional content.” Thanks, DocDawg.
”When the Stones Come Together” by Rev. Dr. William Barber, II:
Because this speech fragment is only about 800 words, we will in this case present the transcript below, but the transcript is also available here in the list of the transcripts we have completed.
0:0
… Another lesson we must learn, particularly progressives and liberals, is not to throw away the high moral grounds and walk away from religious discourse. We cannot assume that the majority of people who confess faith do so along the same criteria of the ultraconservative, so-called religious-right evangelicals.
0:30
The truth is, and some of you might be shocked when I say it tonight – I’m a Christian evangelical conservative. [Whistle, laughter.]
0:42
You can’t buy their rhetoric and accept it willy-nilly, you have to unpack it. You’ve got to exegete it. I’m a Christian evangelical conservative, and I believe that many of those who claim to be conservative are actually quite liberal, because while they talk religion, they liberally leave out any mention of the centerpieces at the heart of faith. I want to conserve what is at the heart of faith, and at the heart of faith is love. At the heart of faith is justice. At the heart of faith is fairness for all people. [Applause.]
1:32
You go tell Franklin Graham and all those other cohorts or those who call themselves conservatives that you met a real conservative, and one who knows Jesus. And we got a question, “Why do they say so much about what God says so little and so little about what God says so much?” [Applause.]
2:18
As my grandmother said, “It’s time to dig a little deeper down in your soul.” It’s time to steady your spine and declare –“Ain’t gonna let nobody turn us around!” I often think about the challenge when I was born, August 30, 1963, two days after the March on Washington. And if Bayard Rushton, who was openly gay, could organize the March on Washington over against the President not wanting them to march, over against vicious racists not wanting them to march, over against some in his own community not wanting to believe it could make a difference … but despite all they odds, they came together. Fusion politics took place and changed America. And echoing the words some of you heard that day, I still have a dream. I still believe. They did it then. We can do it now. And so, if I might preach just a little bit, one of my favorite passages of Scripture, one of my favorite passages of Scripture is the Scripture that says “The stone that the builder rejected has now become the chief cornerstone.” In other words, God can use the rejected to produce revival. And I know in this room there are some who have known rejection, rejection because of sexuality, rejection because of who you love, rejection because of how you were born. Rejection. Rejection because somebody needed somebody to hate to try to feel good about themselves. There are folk in this room that have known rejection. Rejection because of income. Rejection because of faith. Rejection because of race. Rejection because of lack of faith. Rejection because somebody decided in their own ideology that they had a right, a false mandate, to demean your humanity and my humanity, given to us only by God.
4:09
But I want you to know tonight that the stones that the builder rejected are now the cornerstones of this experiment called America. I want you to know tonight that when the rejected get together, we can in fact redeem America from hate and discrimination. I want you to know tonight that when hands that once picked cotton join the hands of Latinos, join the hands of progressive whites, join the faith hands, and join labor hands, and join Asian hands, and join Native American hands, and join poor hands, and join wealthy hands, and join gay hands, and join straight hands, and all those hands get together, when the rejected join hands, our togetherness becomes the instrument of redemption, and when we join hands, we can revive and make sure that the promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and equal protection under the law, and care for the common good will never be taken away or forfeited for anybody, any time, anywhere.
5:26
So together the rejected coming together will revive a promise. This land is your land. This land is my land. Together we will ensure and make sure that hope, not hate, has the last word in the state house, in the White House, and even at the ballot box.
5:49
Together we will ensure that all God’s children are respected and treated with dignity. Together the rejected will redeem the heart of America, and we will make sure that this nation lives out its promise, one nation under God, indivisible. Indivisible, indivisible, indivisible, indivisible, indivisible, indivisible, indivisible!
6:22
With liberty and justice for all.
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