Now this may come as a newsflash to some, but the mosaic of Black folks cuts across a wide swath of differences. Monolithic we’re not. And, like any other group, we’re capable of doing some “fool, what the hell were you thinking” fiascos. Look, no one – I repeat, no one – has a monopoly on stupid.
Which takes me to the front page of a local newspaper and what I cannot believe I’m about to write.
“Oh no, you gotta be kidding,” I thought. To verify what I hoped not to see I leaned to get a closer look at photos of the 18 people in Georgia indicted for conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential elections. Among them were faces of two Black somebodies: Trevian Kutti and Harrison Floyd.
I turned to finding as much as possible about these two Black faces and, thanks to William Spivey who writes about politics, history, and race, I was able to quickly get up to speed on Kutti, Floyd and the fate of other “Blacks Trumpers.”
Tutti
Before jumping on the Trump bandwagon, Kutti worked for two “beacons” of Black role models, Kanye West and the now jailed R. Kelly. In 2021, wrote Spivey, Tutti joined the Young Black Leadership Council under Trump. On the other hand, Floyd is a director of Black Voices for Trump and a staff member for the 2020 Trump campaign. Now of course, it’s within their right to support Trump. That’s not my issue. However, they must be held accountable devious shenanigans and illegal attempts to return him to office.
Floyd
Kutti and Floyd worked with white Pastor Stephen Lee to harass Georgia election worker Ruby Freeman. Wrote Spivey, “Lee banged on Freeman’s door demanding entry as Freeman called 911. When police arrived, Lee identified himself as a police chaplain from Illinois. He told Freeman that she was “running out of time” and that he could help her and her daughter, Shaye Moss, both of whom had been accused of pulling fake ballots when they served as volunteer poll workers.”
Freeman and Moss
Freeman was threatened by Floyd and Kutti with jail unless she provided information about voter fraud. Kutti warned Freeman that “an armed squad” of federal officers would approach her and her family within 48 hours and that Kutti had access to very high-profile people that can make particular things happen in order to defend yourself and your family.”
Now try as one might it’s impossible to dislodge the image of the teary-eyed Black mother and daughter testifying before the committee investigating the January 6 insurrection before millions of viewers and the many threats that they later endured.
Let’s now turn to what’s up with other “Blacks for Trump,” beginning with Stacey (remember her?) Dash.
Wrote Spivey, “Stacey Dash was a regular contributor on Fox New supporting Donald Trump and denouncing Black causes. She denied the existence of voter suppression, attacked Black Lives Matter and got fired from Fox News for cursing on-air while talking about former President Obama. Currently she’s trying to reinvent herself and said she’d had a drug habit costing over $10,000 a month.”
Next, Herman Cain – “the negro from Atlanta,” as a national columnist tagged him) kicked off his campaign by attacking the accomplishments of President Obama. His campaigned came to a screeching halt when his longtime mistress publicized their relationship. During the height of COVID-19, Cain attended a crowded, mostly maskless rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma which resulted in hundreds of people contracting the virus. Cain was diagnosed days later and died from the disease.
Carson
Ben Carson rose to fame based on his achievements in medicine before he figured he could parley that fame to becoming President. Once a Detroit school was named after him. Unfortunately, Carson’s undoing started when he bad mouthed President Obama and spouted, “Obamacare is the worst thing since slavery.”
Carson’s support of Trump led to his becoming Trump’s Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, during which his term was best known for incompetence and buying expensive furniture. The Detroit school board was so ashamed of Carson that they took his name off the school building that once honored his accomplishments. Rather than quietly retiring from public life, these days Carson is heading the American Cornerstone Institute which is fighting the evil of “Critical Race Theory.”
Now in case you’re wondering whatever happened to other Black Trumpers who were tossed onto the heap of Trump also-rans, research the current situation of the “pastor” from Cleveland, Darrell Scott, formally CEO of the National Coalition for Trump who connived in a failing attempt to get 100 Black pastors to endorse Trump. Today Scott whines about being kicking out of his apartment for not paying his rent and having to drive a nine-year-old car because he supported Trump.
And while you’re at it, research the names of the late Diamond and Silk, Black conservative commentators who were also used as puppets then tossed to the wayside after chastising Black Lives Matter participants and disagreeing with the removal of Confederate monuments.
“I’m at a loss to think of a single Black person who was better off because of their association with Trump,” concluded William Spivey. “My advice to any Black person asked to support Trump is to run away. And any money he promised probably wouldn’t have gotten paid anyway.”
In the end discarded Black Trumpers, as the saying goes, “cry me a river!”
Terry Howard is an award-winning trainer, writer, and storyteller. He is a contributing writer with the Chattanooga News Chronicle, The American Diversity Report, The Douglas County Sentinel, Blackmarket.com, co-founder of the “26 Tiny Paint Brushes” writers guild, recipient of the 2019 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award, and third place winner of the 2022 Georgia Press Award.
