Excerpt from remarks by Joshua Vincent, Executive Director of Southern Vision Alliance delivered on June 9, 2025 at an Immigrant Rights Rally.
Good evening, family.
Before I say anything about power or politics, I want to speak from a deeper place.
I am a husband. A father. A believer. A vessel of legacy. I am the son of a Southern praying woman.
I stand in a long line of those who carried people when the road was too rough to walk alone.
And I carry the name Joshua—not by accident, but by assignment.
Because like my namesake, I know what it means to lead on the edge of transition.
To follow behind giants like Moses.
To inherit a people who have escaped slavery—but not yet reached freedom.
And right now, we are living in that kind of moment.
A Jordan River moment.
And the question is—will we cross it together?
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Right now, families—mothers and fathers, children and elders—are being pushed to the edges of this country’s borders.
They’re being bussed like cargo, caged like animals, and blamed for crises they didn’t cause.
And some would say that’s not our fight.
But I want to remind you:
We were once the ones pushed to the edge.
We were once the ones not counted as fully human.
The same forces trying to dehumanize immigrants today are the same forces that tried to break us—through slavery, through Jim Crow, through mass incarceration, through redlining, and state violence.
This moment isn’t new.
It’s just wearing new clothes.
The Black Power movement wasn’t just about our people rising.
It was about all oppressed people organizing for dignity.
We said:
“We will feed our own. Educate our children. Defend our communities. And we will build a future where no one gets left behind.”
From the Panthers to SNCC, from the Garvey to the grassroots, our people understood:
The struggle is not separate—it’s shared.
The border wall and the prison wall are part of the same system.
The ICE raid and the police raid are part of the same playbook.
And the only way to defeat that system—is to build a power greater than fear.
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[SECTION 3: JOSHUA’S LEADERSHIP – A MODEL FOR TODAY]
When Moses passed the torch to Joshua, the Israelites stood on the edge of the Promised Land.
They were no longer in chains—but not yet in freedom.
They stood at the river’s edge, tired, scared, and unsure of what came next.
And God told Joshua:
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid… for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)
But here’s the key:
The waters didn’t part until the priests stepped in.
Faith didn’t move the river—movement did.
And if we want to see change in this country, it won’t come from waiting on better politicians or policies.
It’ll come from stepping in.
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So what do we do?
We move.
We organize.
We stand shoulder to shoulder with our immigrant kin—just like others have stood with us.
We build coalitions that reflect God’s full table, not the empire’s false borders.
We demand policies that reflect heaven’s justice, not man-made exclusions.
And we fight for a future where belonging isn’t earned—it’s honored.
Because Black Power is not scarcity power. It’s abundance power.
It’s not about who we keep out. It’s about who we lift up.
So let the record show:
We are not standing still.
We are not divided.
We are not waiting on the next election, or permission to do what is right.
We move together.
Shout out to Siembra NC, protecting immigrant dignity.
To Comité de Acción Popular, standing strong on the frontlines.
To Black Men Build, shaping a new vision of manhood and power.
To Blueprint NC, our statewide movement infrastructure.
To Forward Together, because forward is the only direction that matters.
To Emancipate NC, breaking legal chains every day.
To REFUND Raleigh, rewriting our city budgets with justice in mind.
To Durham Beyond Policing, building a city without cages.
This is not just resistance.
This is resurrection.
This is not just protest.
It’s prophetic procession.
So somebody say it with me:
Let our people in.
Let our people live.
Let our people lead.
And let our people go!
We were never meant to lead alone.
We lead together.
We fight together.
We rise together.
Because when we move in faith, rivers part.
And when we move in power, empires fall.
Josh Vincent is speaking at the immigrant rights rally on June 9, 2025 in downtown Raleigh
