AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.

We turn now to North Carolina, where Bishop William Barber and other faith leaders are on a 50-mile march from Wilson to Raleigh to push for healthcare for all, immigrant rights and voting access. The march began Wednesday at the Saint James Church in Wilson, North Carolina. This is the church’s pastor, Reverend Della Owens-Barber.

REV. DELLA OWENS-BARBER: My brothers and sisters, we are here today when the North Carolina General Assembly received an order to engage in midcycle racist redistricting in an effort to abridge voting rights. But, oh no, oh no, we are going to march. And we decided we’re going to march, we’re going to walk, we’re going to drive, we’re going to caravan for three days to love forward together and to mobilize voters to the poll, going from county to county, precinct to precinct. We will march until the walls of ICE raids come down. We will march until the walls of poverty fall down. We will march until the walls of religious nationalism fall down. We will march until the walls of environmental degradation fall down.

AMY GOODMAN: The Reverend Della Owens-Barber, the wife of Bishop William Barber. Bishop William Barber also spoke in Wilson, North Carolina, Wednesday.

BISHOP WILLIAM BARBER II: It’s time for those who love truth telling to turn it up and turn it on. It’s time for those who love education and healthcare, who love a society where you don’t have to be worried about people in our name claiming to be officers of the law shooting our people down in the street. It’s time for love to turn it up and to turn it on. Am I right about it?

CROWD: Yes!

AMY GOODMAN: We’re joined now by Reverend Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove of Repairers of the Breach. He’s joining us from the march in Knightdale, North Carolina.

Welcome to Democracy Now!, Reverend Wilson-Hartgrove. Explain why you’re there.

REV. JONATHAN WILSON-HARTGROVE: Thank you, Amy. It’s good to be with you.

I’m here in Knightdale. This is day three of this march from Wilson to Raleigh. We’re here to love forward together, we’re saying. And we’ve got ministers of various denominations here, our brother Buddhist monk here with us, many people of many faiths and of no particular faith but who know that love is the power that can overcome fear in this moment. And so, we’re marching to defy the attempt to steal a House seat here, and to say we’re going to love forward towards the things that we know and love for this place.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Reverend, there is an effort in North Carolina to challenge — a lawsuit challenging the redistricting effort. Could you explain to people who are not in your state what you most object to about the way that this gerrymandering has occurred?

REV. JONATHAN WILSON-HARTGROVE: Well, I was glad to hear Ari Berman explaining one of the ways that the current regime is trying to subvert the upcoming election. But they may not need Maduro’s help if they can get help from folks here in North Carolina. So, Donald Trump called the North Carolina Legislature and said, “Find me an extra House seat.” And the folks in charge of the Legislature here said they would be glad to do that, and so they drew a gerrymander that took the places that we’ve been walking through for the last few days out of District 1 and put them in District 3, because they think, based on their calculations, that they can do that and steal District 1 from the people who elected their representative there.

The reality, though, is that you can only do this by borrowing from places that you think are safe. And we believe that the most powerful pushback against this robbery is for voters to show up. So, early voting here started yesterday in our primary, and we’ve been walking and talking to folks about what they love and what they want for their state, and letting everybody know that we have the power, the power of love, to show up and to not only, you know, keep the power we have, but maybe even expand power, because the danger of a gerrymander, the political scientists say, is that it can become a “dummymander,” and we’re hoping that there’s going to be one big dummymander here in North Carolina.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And Repairers of the Breach and your movement have also called for welcoming immigrants, not ICE. Could you talk about your concerns about the raids occurring around the country under the direction of President Trump?

REV. JONATHAN WILSON-HARTGROVE: Well, the abuse of power that begins with voter suppression and election subversion then gets used to support policies that bring violence to our communities. And we know that the one big bill that passed Congress last year, the big, ugly, deadly and destructive bill, that gave so much money to ICE to empower them to do what they’re doing now, that same bill took money away from people right here, people who need healthcare, people who need nutrition assistance.

That’s what is at stake in the midterm elections. This isn’t about left versus right or Democrats versus Republicans. This is about whether we’re going to stand up and love the people and the places that we know. And so, all of these policies matter, and voting matters, because they wouldn’t be trying to steal an election if it didn’t matter. So, we’re out here encouraging everybody in North Carolina to show up and to reclaim our power to love forward together.

AMY GOODMAN: And what are your plans on Valentine’s Day, when you arrive in Raleigh in North Carolina, Reverend Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove?

REV. JONATHAN WILSON-HARTGROVE: Well, we’ve got a — we’ve got a bunch of people out here today. We’re going to be walking from here all the way into Raleigh. We’ll get to the Old Capitol by the end of the march today. And early tomorrow morning, folks are going to gather at Shaw University, and we’re going to march right up Fayetteville Street. We’re going to fill it up with people who want to love forward together, and we’ll have a rally there. We’re going to have lots of people sharing about why they’ve made the walk, about why we’re committed to reach out to low-income and infrequent voters in North Carolina. We’ve got some special gifts that have been sent from friends around the country, a song from Brother Willie Nelson and other things. We’re going to have a big celebration of this agenda of loving forward together as a way of launching and beginning an effort for the months ahead to turn out the largest midterm vote in North Carolina history.

AMY GOODMAN: Thank you for being with us, Reverend Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, assistant director and lecturer, the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at Yale Divinity School. All the best to Bishop Barber.

Coming up, a humanitarian crisis is growing in Cuba as the U.S. blocks all oil shipments to the island as part of an attempt to topple the Cuban government. We’ll speak to Cuba’s ambassador to the United Nations. Stay with us.

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AMY GOODMAN: “Una Canción,” “A Song,” by the Cuban singer Silvio Rodríguez, performing at New York’s Central Park years ago. He just finished a Latin American tour and is back in Cuba.