With the Nov. 3 midterm elections approaching, Bishop William J. Barber II and Repairers of the Breach are organizing hundreds of community marches to voting sites across the country, including in St. Louis.
Washington Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion Church is listed as a participant in the national “100 Days; 1,000 Marches to the Polls” campaign, with an Election Day event scheduled for Nov. 3.
A map on the Repairers of the Breach website lists 50 participants for the event, reported by Annissa G. McCaskill. The entry references the city of St. Louis, St. Louis County and St. Clair and Madison counties in Illinois.
The campaign asks faith communities and neighborhood organizations to accompany voters to voting sites and continue mobilizing through Election Day.
By Oct. 15, the organization reported surpassing the halfway mark toward its goal, with 652 marches organized in 428 locations nationwide.
Organizers describe the effort as nonviolent and nonpartisan, with an invitation extending beyond sanctuaries to campuses, lodges and other community gathering places.
Power of the ballot
For Black communities, the effort connects protecting voting rights with understanding the everyday consequences of who holds public office.
Barber carried that message to North Carolina Central University in Durham on Oct. 15, the first day of early voting in North Carolina. Marchers gathered at St. Joseph AME Church before walking to the university’s law school, where voting was underway, NC Newsline reported.
“We marched for it. We fought for it, mobilized,” Barber told reporters.
His message linked participation in the election — and who’s elected — to health care, funding for historically Black colleges and universities and whether working families earn a living wage. He challenged political candidates to explain the policies they support, rather than simply identify what they oppose.
Barber’s national Love Forward Together initiative aims to mobilize 5 million low-wage, infrequent voters, particularly in Southern and battleground states. In addition to marches, organizers are using peer-to-peer text messages, phone banking and door-to-door canvassing to reach people who may otherwise sit out the election.
“You cannot have a democracy unless you have participation,” he said.
That approach places personal relationships at the center of the work: a congregation organizing its members, neighbors contacting neighbors and local groups helping turn an intention to vote into a plan.
From Seattle to St. Croix
The campaign’s reach continued to expand this month. Religion News Service reported that, as of Oct. 9, more than 600 individuals, churches and other groups had signed up in more than 400 locations, stretching from Seattle to St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Those signups reflected organizing commitments, rather than a tally of completed marches.
Barber has urged participants to demonstrate “conspicuous courage,” linking public participation with the sacrifices of earlier generations who fought for access to the ballot. His appeal comes as Black faith leaders broaden voter outreach beyond traditional worship services.
The organizing builds on Barber’s years of connecting faith, racial justice and economic policy. A former North Carolina NAACP president, he helped lead the Moral Monday movement beginning in 2013 and revived the Poor People’s Campaign in 2018.
Acting locally
The Repairers of the Breach map also lists an Aug. 4 march associated with Blackwell Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church at The Met, with 10 participants reported. Together, the two St. Louis-area entries account for 60 reported participants.
Washington Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion Church has also promoted the #SacredVoteSTL initiative, encouraging members to learn about Missouri ballot measures and participate in the election. In a Facebook post, the church directed members to voter outreach organized through Metropolitan Congregations United and encouraged them to share photos after voting.
Across the country, the campaign is asking communities to organize marches around their own early voting calendars and prepare for Election Day, when early voting is no longer available.
Repairers of the Breach offers an online signup for march organizers and a way to find nearby events. Its invitation includes churches and synagogues, students and community groups — people willing to bring others with them.
For Barber’s coalition, the days leading up to Nov. 3 will test whether those commitments become participation. The larger purpose is to bring people who seldom vote into decisions that shape their daily lives.