Rev. Barber Comes to Asheville for Rally

Barber is the former head of the NC-NAACP and now convener of the nationwide Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.

He is joining with Repairers of the Breach to bring a get-out-the-vote rally to Asheville at 4 p.m. on Saturday, October 22, 2022 at First Congregational United Church of Christ at 20 Oak St.

The aim of the tour is to help poor people and low-wage workers see how they can make a difference in the 2022 midterms. Hoping to encourage people who didn’t vote in 2020 to turn out for the 2022 midterm elections, the organizers want to demonstrate that even low-wage, low wealth people have the power to change North Carolina’s political landscape.

About 3.4 million poor and low-income people in North Carolina are eligible to vote, with 2.2 million voting in the 2020 presidential election, according to a study titled “Waking the Sleeping Giant: Low-Income Voters and the 2020 Elections,” which was released in October 2021 by the Poor People’s Campaign.

Almost 50% of the state’s workforce—approximately 2 million NC workers—earn less than $15 an hour. While 60% of such citizens voted, more than one-third did not. Those voters, more than 1 million of them, could change election outcomes if they turn out this year.

“Any candidate who ignores poor and low-wage, low-wealth voters is engaged in a strategy that is morally indefensible, constitutionally inconsistent, politically inept and economically insane,” Barber said. “They are the constituency with the power to elect candidates who care most about ensuring living wages, health care for all, women’s reproductive rights, and voting rights.”

The Oct. 22 rally will take place at the church and be broadcast to an overflow crowd as well as livestreamed. To RSVP, go to .