We Are Called to Be a Movement

Now more than ever, it’s time for everyone who cares about the state of our nation to heed the call and join forces to redeem the soul of America. We must unite and renounce the politics of rejection, division, and greed, lift up the common good, move up to higher ground, and revive the heart of democracy.

Our 2024-25 Tanner Lecture will be given by Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II of Repairers of the Breach and the Poor People’s Campaign. During this inspiring lecture, Rev. Dr. Barber will make an impassioned argument with a message that could not be clearer: It's time for change, and these times need you.

For years Rev. Dr. Barber has been one of the country’s most gifted moral fusion organizers, strategists, and orators. He is the author of five books: White Poverty: How Exposing Myths About Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy; We Are Called To Be A Movement; Revive Us Again: Vision and Action in Moral Organizing; The Third Reconstruction: Moral Mondays, Fusion Politics, and The Rise of a New Justice Movement; and Forward Together: A Moral Message For The Nation.

Rev. Dr. Barber’s activism focuses on economic justice, civil rights, and building moral movements. His Tanner Lecture, “We Are Called to Be a Movement,” will take place on Thursday, November 14, from 5 - 7 p.m., at Stanford Memorial Church. The discussion seminar will be held on Friday, November 15, from 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., at the Center for Inter-Religious Community, Learning and Experiences (CIRCLE) Common Room.

Please note that these free, public events are in-person only, and RSVPs are requested to attend. Attendees should register for each event they plan to attend (lecture and discussion seminar). Walk-ins are welcome.

This event is co-sponsored by the McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society and the Office of the President.

Speaker Bios:

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II is President and Senior Lecturer of Repairers of the Breach, Co-Chair of the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call For Moral Revival, Bishop with The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries, and Professor in the Practice of Public Theology and Public Policy and Founding Director of the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at Yale Divinity School. He was Pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Goldsboro, North Carolina, from 1993 to 2023.

Rev. Dr. Barber served as president of the North Carolina NAACP from 2006-2017 and on the National NAACP Board of Directors from 2008-2020. He is the architect of the Forward Together Moral Movement that gained national acclaim in 2013 with its Moral Monday protests at the North Carolina General Assembly. In 2015, he established Repairers of the Breach to train communities in moral movement building through the Moral Political Organizing Leadership Institute and Summit Trainings (MPOLIS). In 2018, he co-anchored the relaunch of the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. On June 29, 2024, Rev. Dr. Barber convened the Mass Poor People’s and Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington D.C. & to the Polls to reframe poverty in America and mobilize millions of voters experiencing poverty.

Dorian Warren is co-president of Community Change and Community Change Action, and co-founder of the Economic Security Project. Warren taught for over a decade at the University of Chicago and Columbia University. He's the co-author of The Hidden Rules of Race, co-editor of Race and American Political Development, and has penned numerous academic articles. Dorian previously worked as a guest host and contributor at MSNBC. He sits on several boards, including the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Education Fund Board and The Nation Magazine Editorial Board. As a commentator on public affairs, Warren has appeared regularly on television and radio and has also written for The New York Times, Newsweek, and Ebony.com, among others.

Melvin L. Rogers is Edna and Richard Salomon Distinguished Professor, Political Science Department at Brown University. He is the author of The Undiscovered Dewey: Religion, Morality and the Ethos of Democracy (Columbia University Press) and The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought (Princeton University Press). He is also the editor of John Dewey, The Public and Its Problems (Ohio University Press), co-editor of African American Political Thought: A Collected History (University of Chicago Press), and co-editor of the book series: Oxford New Histories of Philosophy. He received the 2023 James W. C. Pennington Award from Heidelberg University for his scholarship.

Pamela S. Karlan is the Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Professor of Public Interest Law and co-director of the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic at Stanford Law School. Pam’s scholarship focuses on constitutional litigation. She is co-author of The Law of Democracy: Legal Structure of the Political Process and Civil Rights Actions: Enforcing the Constitution (two leading casebooks) as well as dozens of scholarly articles. Before entering teaching, Pam was an assistant counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Most recently, she served as the principal deputy assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice.

These events will have audio recordings, and a photographer will be present to document the events. By RSVPing, you consent for your image to be used for Center-related promotions and platforms. If you have any questions or want to opt-out, please contact .

Parking Information: Permits are required to park on Stanford's campus. The Via Ortega garage, located at 498 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305, is the recommended parking garage closest to the venue. Guests can alternatively attempt to find visitor parking at the Stanford Oval, depending on availability. See for information about Visitor parking if you do not have an 'A' or 'C' parking permit.

If you require disability-related accommodation, please contact as soon as possible or at least 7 business days in advance of the event.

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Host or Publisher The McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society