Thread: Donald Trump Meets With Black Leaders Ahead of Detroit Church Visit

Donald Trump Meets With Black Leaders Ahead of Detroit Church Visit

By YAMICHE ALCINDOR SEPT. 2, 2016

Donald J. Trump consoled Shalga Hightower, 55, center, during a campaign appearance on Friday in Philadelphia. Credit Mark Makela for The New York Times

PHILADELPHIA — Amid confusion over whether he would speak at a black church this weekend, Donald J. Trump’s halting attempts to win over African-American voters took him to Philadelphia on Friday, where he spoke with a small group of business owners and community leaders and had an emotional meeting with the mother of a young woman who was killed by undocumented immigrants.

After largely avoiding black audiences during his campaign, Mr. Trump had arranged to appear at a prominent black church, Great Faith Ministries, in Detroit on Saturday.

After a New York Times report that he would not address the congregation and would give only scripted answers to questions pre-submitted by the pastor, his campaign said Thursday that Mr. Trump would speak to the crowd for five to 10 minutes.

But on Friday afternoon, the pastor, Bishop Wayne T. Jackson, insisted that talk of Mr. Trump speaking was only “rumors” and that he would be allowed to offer only a short greeting to the congregation, not a pitch for why they should vote for him.

“When we have guests, whether they are a celebrity, an actress, an actor, or whether it’s just somebody who is well known, we do allow them to say, ‘I’m here today,’” Mr. Jackson said. “A greeting. Thank you very much and sit down. There is not going to be a 10 minute speech from nobody. No.”

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond on Friday.

The night before, his senior communications adviser, Jason Miller, had said Mr. Trump was eager to present himself to members of the church.

“If you know anything about Mr. Trump, it’s that he will want the opportunity to take his vision and message of opportunity directly to the people on Saturday,” Mr. Miller had said.

Mr. Trump’s support among black voters remains dismal, low even by Republican standards, owing to a string of slights that include his questioning of President Obama’s birth certificate and his dismissive treatment of Black Lives Matter protesters.

But in swing states like Pennsylvania, winning over even a few new African-American voters could mean the difference.

Mr. Trump believes his calls to end illegal immigration can transcend racial lines, and on Friday, he met with a black woman, Shalga Hightower, 55, who wept as she described how her 20-year-old daughter Iofemi was murdered, along with two friends, by a group of men which included two undocumented immigrants.

Mr. Trump asked about the fate of the young men and Ms. Hightower said that they had all received life sentences.

“But they should have never been here,” said Mr. Trump, looking solemn as he consoled the crying mother.

“But they should have never been here, absolutely,” she replied.

When reporters asked about a few dozen protesters who could be heard shouting outside, Ms. Hightower’s son, Jamar Hightower, 26, jumped into the discussion.

“It’s way bigger than that,” he said. “I mean there’s freedom of speech and they can think what they want. But, at the end of the day, I feel as though this man is the only one that’s actually standing up to do something about it.”

The Hightowers and the 12 local leaders, most of them Republicans, who met with Mr. Trump Friday were aware that many black Americans have a dim view of the candidate.

Even so, Daphne Goggins, a local party leader, thanked Mr. Trump for coming and wept as she said: “For the first time in my life, I feel like my vote is going to count.”

And Renee Amoore, the founder of a consulting firm, said she appreciated Mr. Trump for “coming to the hood.”

“That’s a big deal,” she said. “Let’s be clear here, folks.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/03/us...ck-voters.html

Black Americans, please:

COME HOME to the Republican Party.

What you need to do is watch Trump Rallies, and see the standing ovations and roars of support from Trump Supporters when he talks about the problems that black Americans still face in our country and his desire to end this and solve these problems. What this means is Trump Supporters not only support Donald Trump, we support you. Republicans have always supported you. The sole reason we have a Republican Party in the United States is YOU. Our party was formed to help black Americans, 2,000,0000 Volunteers joined the Union Army and fought a horrible war with the highest number of casualties of any war fought by Americans, to free 4 million slaves in the South, end slavery in the United States forever, and establish equal rights for black Americans.

And Republicans have been fighting for YOU every day since. Our candidates just never talked about it or asked for credit for it. The US Civil Rights Acts, all of them, were Republican bills, passed by much higher % of Republicans than Democrats. In 1964, Republicans supported the US Civil Rights Act of 1964 with 80% of its members in Congress while Democrats only with 55%. Democrats gutted the Republican 1957 US Civil Rights Act and even your hero John Kennedy, a US Senator at the time, voted against it. It passed but without many of its provisions that were gutted by the Democrats. The 1964 Act is the full version of the 1957 Act, minus voting rights. Republicans wrote and pushed through the 1965 Voting Rights Act to fix that. Yes, Democrats get credit because Lyndon Johnson was President. But all these civil rights bills were Republican bills, bills they first drafted after the Civil War. Some were overturned by the US Supreme Court.

COME HOME.

VOTE FOR DONALD J TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

I don't agree with the standard conservative critique that all of the Detroit disaster is the result of liberal policies. San Francisco might indicate just the opposite conclusion.

However, the broader issue is that America's products have been steadily eroded for decades now by imports. This is the real story of Detroit---and Baltimore, and Cleveland, and on and on through every once prosperous town that is now falling apart. With unfettered immigration we have to ask ourselves where the next disasters will strike, due to foreigners taking US jobs.

Detroit had a complex of issues---deteriorating but high maintenance buildings, flight of people to the suburbs, landlords abandoning property. And then capping those off fighting against imported autos---the darling of America's hip, liberal consumers. The liberal policies were just throwing good money after bad. And most of these other failing cities have the same issues.

But there is an important lesson in Detroit that conservatives are not apparently grasping. What propelled the postwar Detroit to success was seizing upon a worldwide market--in those days demand for diesel power and modern vehicles. GM products went everywhere around the world. But now the demand worldwide is more in consumer electrical products and appropriate power generation systems. A Trump administration would hopefully recognize this as a new golden opportunity. We are getting past the days of massive electrical plants---and they are getting riskier all the time with the proliferation of nuclear power in unstable areas.

Innovative power generation, small scale production, and smart electrical grid systems should open up whole industries that American could man, just as they manned the industries that supplied diesel and automotive power 60 years ago. Most conservative simply don't get this. I think Trump would, but you also have to have local governments that will cooperate, and that's where the political shenanigans could get tricky.

Most of our cities have major issues, but the target right now and for several years to come is to help these black Americans literally trapped in poverty in these inner cities. What is going on is really unbelievable. There is presently no way out for them. None. They have no money, they have no car, they have no jobs .... they are voting slaves trapped in these areas voting for Democrats who have convinced them they care about them by handing out food stamps, roach infested low income housing and Medicaid, instead of a job. They are trapped and it's time for Republicans to free them. That is what Donald Trump is talking about, that is what he wants to do, and that is what he will do.

Black PhD's from Harvard working for government, the media or 501 C 3's don't need us, it's every other black American who does.

For those who may not remember the Newark Park Killings, here's an article about them. Iofemi Hightower, the daughter of Shagla Hightower who met with Donald Trump in Philly was one of the 3 college students murdered by MS-13 members in 2007. Another girl, survived by a miracle, but her brother who was with her in the park did not. Ms. Aerial was hacked with a machete, is disfigured, has brain damage and other physical impairments from her horrible injuries, but she was able to identify the killers and that led to the convictions. God Bless Her.

I posted and blogged about this story here on ALIPAC at the time, which is why I remembered the name and wanted to share the background of Shagla Hightower's loss. There was very little media coverage about these murders, almost none at all. Donald Trump gets more coverage on a tweet than the media gave these 4 victims of a foreign gang execution spree. Of course, all 4 victims were black, and their assailants were illegal aliens. Democrats did nothing and said so little about it, it's a disgrace.

______________________

Sorrow and Anger as Newark Buries Slain Youths

By MANNY FERNANDEZ and ANDREW JACOBS AUG. 12, 2007

NEWARK, Aug. 11 — From the early morning to the late afternoon, Newark was a city of mourning on Saturday, as people gathered at three separate funerals for three young friends executed in a schoolyard a week before.

The eulogies came in waves of emotion from relatives, officials and complete strangers, filling three Baptist churches here and spilling out onto the sidewalks. The funerals — the first around 9 a.m., the second at 11 a.m. and the third at noon — provided a kind of rolling stage for the city’s grief, not only for the three victims but also for all the young men and women killed in street violence here in recent years.

“Get this evil out of my city,” Mayor Cory A. Booker told nearly 1,000 mourners at the funeral for the youngest of the three victims, Terrance Aeriel, 18.

Mr. Booker stood at a lectern inside New Hope Baptist Church, waving his arms and not so much speaking as preaching, his words a mix of anger, praise and a personal appeal for forgiveness.

The coffin bearing Iofemi Hightower, 20, arrived at Grace Temple Baptist Church in Newark. Credit Sylwia Kapuscinski for The New York Times

In the days before the killings, Mr. Booker had been criticized by many who said he was disconnected from residents of his adopted city, and a video had surfaced in which Mr. Booker described a colorful Newark activist using words that, while intended as affectionate, angered the activist’s family and even the mayor’s supporters.

“I want to repent to this church,” Mr. Booker said at Mr. Aeriel’s funeral. “In the days leading into Saturday, I was saying things that hurt this city. But I broke down. I was broken down, but in the pit of my despair I heard the Lord speak.”

As the crowd rose and cheered, he added: “How dare I or any other Newarker crumble to the ground? How dare we give in to fear? How dare people turn on their brothers and attack them, blame them?”

Mr. Booker, like many other mourners, including Gov. Jon S. Corzine and United States Senator Robert Menendez, attended all three funerals.

Standing near the silver coffin of Mr. Aeriel, who was ordained as a minister a few years ago and was known to relatives as T. J., Mr. Corzine said: “T. J.’s life has not been in vain. He has inspired so many of you, and he inspires me.”

The coffin carrying the body of Dashon Harvey, 20, was taken by carriage from Metropolitan Baptist Church after his funeral. Credit Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times

About 11:30 p.m. last Saturday the three victims — Dashon Harvey, 20; Iofemi Hightower, 20; and Mr. Aeriel — were hanging out at the Mount Vernon School in the Ivy Hill neighborhood. With them was Natasha Aeriel, 19, Mr. Aeriel’s sister.

Mr. Harvey and the Aeriels were students at Delaware State University, and Ms. Hightower was planning to join them in the fall.

They were confronted by several attackers, and Mr. Harvey, Ms. Hightower and Mr. Aeriel were lined up against a low wall behind the school, forced to kneel and shot in the head. Ms. Aeriel was also shot, but survived.

The authorities have said robbery appeared to be the motive. Three suspects — two 15-year-olds and a 28-year-old construction worker from Peru — have been arrested. The police are looking for at least two more people, one of them a teenager.

On Saturday, hundreds of people attended each funeral, including about 80 students and 10 administrators from Delaware State. Some mourners went from one funeral to another, in a numbing string of tears, remembrances and gospel songs.

Photo
Mourners outside New Hope Baptist Church, where Mayor Cory A. Booker spoke at the funeral for Terrance Aeriel, 18. Credit Michael Nagle for The New York Times

Ernest Nunnally, 52, walked toward Mr. Harvey’s funeral at Metropolitan Baptist Church, the program from Ms. Hightower’s service at Grace Temple Baptist Church rolled up in his hands. He said he wanted to pay his respects to all three victims, though he knew none of them.

“It could be any of our children,” said Mr. Nunnally, who grew up in Newark.

Mr. Harvey’s funeral was the first of the day. Outside the church, a man in a top hat sat atop a two-horse carriage, waiting to lead the coffin to Evergreen Cemetery in nearby Hillside. It was a final stylish touch for a stylish young man. Mr. Harvey had a bold fashion sense, once shaving his hair into a mohawk and regularly donning pastel colors or pink and green tennis shoes.

“He wasn’t the life of the party,” Mr. Harvey’s mother, Judy Wade, said after his wake on Friday. “He was the party.”

About a mile from Mr. Harvey’s funeral on Saturday, Mr. Aeriel was remembered in a ceremony that was more celebratory than melancholy, as people clapped and waved their hands in the air as they sang and prayed.

“He loved his Jesus,” Mr. Aeriel’s mother, Renee Tucker, told the crowd. “He would come in the house and say, ‘Mom, give God some praise.’ ”

Photo
Mourners gathered at Grace Temple Baptist Church in Newark Ssaturday for the funeral of Iofemi Hightower, 20, one of three friends fatally shot on Aug. 4. Credit Sylwia Kapuscinski for The New York Times

Ms. Tucker was clad in white for her son’s funeral. At the last funeral of the day, Ms. Hightower’s mother, Shalga Hightower, also wore white.

Inside the Grace Temple church, the red satin curtains were drawn against the light and the chandeliers were dimmed for the service for Ms. Hightower. It was led by her great-uncle, the Rev. John McClain, a Newark police chaplain.

Ms. Hightower lay in a white coffin, drumsticks in her white-gloved hands. She had played drums in the West Side High School marching band. Mr. Aeriel and his sister, Ms. Hightower’s classmates at West Side, were also in the band.

Mecca Ali, 20, a classmate who had provided cymbal crashes to Ms. Hightower’s marching beat, said, “She was outgoing, spirited.”

Ms. Ali wore a T-shirt that read, “Tell Me Why They Had to Die.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/12/us/12funeral.html

Originally Posted by Judy

Most of our cities have major issues, but the target right now and for several years to come is to help these black Americans literally trapped in poverty in these inner cities. What is going on is really unbelievable. There is presently no way out for them. None. They have no money, they have no car, they have no jobs .... they are voting slaves trapped in these areas voting for Democrats who have convinced them they care about them by handing out food stamps, roach infested low income housing and Medicaid, instead of a job. They are trapped and it's time for Republicans to free them. That is what Donald Trump is talking about, that is what he wants to do, and that is what he will do.

Black PhD's from Harvard working for government, the media or 501 C 3's don't need us, it's every other black American who does.

Bringing jobs back would help. But here is the other issue, which as I have written elsewhere I brought up at the State of the World Forum in 2000 hosted by the UN at the NY Hilton, and subsequently at an UN Urban Forum in 2006. The Urban Forum meets every two years; it's next meeting is in Kuala Lumpur, January 2018.http://sd.iisd.org/events/ninth-world-urban-forum/ It was sort of a personal triumph when a key UN person with the Habitat program actually came out to the NW and we visited a James Hardie Corp. manufacturing plant.

People who want to improve their lives should know building skills. Detroit actually has a lot of good quality housing stock--that needs to be renovated. I remember in the 1970's used brick became an architectural trend, and there were actually quite a few people who worked at recycling it, locally. Detroit is full of used brick! Even if they just went block by block to redevelop single blocks, they could use brick for facades or walls and fences. They could develop a single block, incorporate recycled material and develop a secure barrier--a gated community. We have had townhouse projects around here that are very similar to that, without the gate. If a house is very solid and beautiful, save it; modify the garish features. If something does get torn down the lumber may even be valuable. I see large beams from commercial buildings being reclaimed here. The timber of that era was good quality, if it is not damaged by weather and insects.The vacant land could turn into community gardens or perhaps fenced storage areas; we have a lot of those around here.

Surprisingly, the Christian religion actually teaches this sort of thing. It was not meant to be dominated by hare brained theologians and political opportunists. It was meant to lift up people who actually had to struggle, not those who sat comfortably, giving orders to people. As long as politicians haggle on and on about this policy and that theory the practical things don't get done.

Additionally, and this happens worldwide, is that when people are given an opportunity to own new property that is well designed they often choose to move back to the big city and live in a slum. A group of African housing ministers told me that at the 2006 WUF. And I have been told the same by others. They are attracted by the excitement of the city. This really sucks, and makes it seem futile to do anything to help them.

Additionally, and this happens worldwide, is that when people are given an opportunity to own new property that is well designed they often choose to move back to the big city and live in a slum. A group of African housing ministers told me that at the 2006 WUF. And I have been told the same by others. They are attracted by the excitement of the city. This really sucks, and makes it seem futile to do anything to help them.

There is nothing wrong with black Americans or anyone else wanting to live in the cities. They just need nice neighborhoods. In order to have nice neighborhoods, you need nice developments, redevelopments, rehabilitated blocks for miles. This is very easy to do. But, you first have to have income to pay the rents, you have to have jobs that pay good wages so people can afford the rents. Retail won't do this, some office work will do this, but what does it best is manufacturing. Manufacturing doesn't have to be down the street, but has to be in the area of the city so they can drive from the city to a suburb to work. But there are many light manufacturing operations that can work very well in the cities. They used to and with so much technology now in these processes and environmental standards that keep them so clean now that there is absolutely NO REASON why these manufacturing operations can't move right back into inner cities to provide these good jobs and benefits within a train, bus or short cab ride to work every day. This is all possible. This is the type of thing Donald Trump knows about and can drive forward. Manufacturing operations on average employ about 70% blue collar plant worker and 30% office, engineering, and other white collar jobs. Some operations have an even higher white collar work force.

The key to solving all our problems everywhere throughout our country including inner cities starts with stopping illegal immigration, pausing or reducing legal immigration, and eliminating trade deficits by fixing our horrible trade deals. A $700 to $800 billion annual trade deficit that we have now and have had for over a decade going way back to the early years of GW Bush, means that money and all the jobs it funded leave our country forever. Poof! Gone! And it repeats and grows the loss every year you have it. That means every 10 years, $8 trillion of American wealth left the United States forever. Forever. You never get it back. You can stop it and turn it around, but that $8 trillion over a decade was lost FOREVER.

This is why I call it Free Trade Treason. The trade problem is actually a bigger problem than illegal immigration but I always list illegal immigration as the first thing we need to fix to fix our country because it's already the law and is the easier of the 2 to stop. The trade deals will require Congress and other countries to be involved at least for awhile and to me these are more difficult to correct so I list protect our trade as number 2.

Here's my list.

Judy's Five Steps to Fix the US Economy:

1. stop illegal immigration and reduce legal immigration
2. protect our trade
3. pass the FairTax
4. end the War on Drugs
5. drill baby drill, but do it right

I've posted this for over a decade on ALIPAC and elsewhere.

Trump is committed to 1, 2 and 5 and I think open to 3 and 4.