2021: A Year in Review

NC Council of Churches

Strength in Unity, Peace through Justice

Community Superstar: Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman

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This February, during Black History Month, we are highlighting 4 amazing Community Superstars. These incredible people are local Black leaders in North Carolina who have been doing amazing work in their communities!

This week our Community Superstar is the Reverend Dr. T. Anthony Spearman! He has been an activist for most of his life and he has especially been involved voting rights.

Dr. Anthony Spearman, an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion
Church is the immediate past President of the State Conference of Branches of the North Carolina NAACP and a Past President of the North Carolina Council of Churches. Spearman is presently a member of the Guilford County Board of Elections and served as a member of the Hickory Public Schools board from 2011 until he was relocated to Greensboro in 2014.

Spearman has been involved in community activism for the past 52 years and as a former campus minister has rallied college students together over a number of just causes. He was among the Greensboro Pulpit Forum members who advocated for KMart employees in Greensboro in 1995-1996. He marched with Smithfield Workers in order to improve their working conditions. He has been a constant participant with the Historic Thousands on Jones Street Peoples’ Assembly Coalition over the past ten years. Dr. Spearman is recognized as a staunch advocate for the LGBTQ community (a consultant with Faith in Action and Equality NC). He was one of 25 plaintiffs who fought hard against the School Opportunities Program or Voucher Lawsuit. He was also one of the first organizational plaintiffs in the HB 589 Voter Suppression Lawsuit against Governor McCrory and the State of NC.

Dr. Spearman is presently fighting to keep Voter Photo ID out of NC. He is also a staunch and passionate advocate for criminal injustice arena. Spearman was one of the first seventeen persons arrested during the Forward Together Moral Monday Movement. He believes that courage is the foundation to acts of civil disobedience.

Dr. T. Anthony Spearman, not only an advocate for voting rights, but he is committed to serving our most marginalized communities. We are grateful to have such an impactful and inspiring activist serving our communities in North Carolina.

About Rachel Baker, Communications Director

Rachel was born and raised in North Carolina and graduated from Appalachian State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and minor in General Business. She has been engaged in immigration advocacy through her immersion in a church plant started by her father and another pastor that was multicultural and bilingual. She was actively involved in the ministries of the congregation, a church that worked directly with first generation immigrant families as part of their focus and outreach. She is excited to start working to build the NC Sanctuary Coalition for the Council of Churches. In her free time, Rachel loves all things outdoors, including hiking with her dogs, exploring new trails, and playing sports. She also enjoys playing her ukulele, cooking, and traveling.

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