Detroit, MI
In Detroit, Republicans pray pastors can help them win black votes
DETROIT — With a Michigan win all but guaranteeing Donald Trump the White House, his campaign deployed disciples in downtown Detroit last week to boost his backing among black voters.
Pastor Lorenzo Sewell of 180Church, who gave a fiery prime-time speech at last month’s Republican National Convention, emceed the Thursday roundtable, which aimed to route Republican outreach through a trusted source in the community: the black pastor.
Sewell said he has always voted Republican, though few knew — until Trump’s July appearance at his church, which Sewell calls his “coming-out party.”
“My whole life, I’ve had the honor to serve in Detroit, Pontiac and Saginaw,” he said. “Always serving in Democratic strongholds but always voting Republican.”
Why?
“I believe in the Bible.”
A fellow churchman echoed his remarks at the event, held at restaurant Table No. 2.
“I’m often asked why I’m even involved with this whole political madness going on our country right now,” said Apostle Ellis L. Smith, who leads Jubilee City Church in neighboring Redford. “But I’m not politically motivated. I’m really not a Republican, I’m not a Democrat, I’m a Bible-crat.”
“We have to begin to think biblically,” Smith said. “Not culturally, biblically. Not black or white, biblically. As a grandparent, and now I’m a great grandparent, I don’t want little boys who think they’re girls going into the bathroom with my grandchildren.”
“As Detroit goes, so goes America,” Smith added. “And as America goes, so goes the world. So what we do and how we do it has the capacity to change everything.”
Clinton Tarver, 74, knows firsthand what the Trump campaign is up against.
The Clint’s Hotdog Cart and Casual Catering owner is running as a Republican for the Ingham County Commission. He and his wife, Linda, have been involved in GOP politics for years; she’s a former civil-rights commissioner for the state.
When Tarver hits the campaign trail, he has to fend off two foes: general apathy and particular antipathy when people learn he’s a Republican.
“One friend of mine asked for a Trump sign,” Tarver told The Post. “So he could burn it. That’s cold, you know? But it’s the kind of stuff that we go through.”
Tarver hopes to move the Overton window to the point where it’s not a shock for someone to see a black Republican at the door.
“People need to be free to make their own choices,” he said. “We have to give them something to choose.”
Martell Bivings, the black Republican running against Democrat incumbent Shri Thanedar in the congressional district that covers Detroit, was not in attendance. But he has warned the Trump campaign that without a real outreach effort to the African-American community, the black votes Trump hopes for won’t materialize.
“I know those black men. I’m related to those black men,” Bivings told The Post. “They’re not going to go to the polls. They’ll say ‘I ain’t make it to the polls; was Election Day last week?’”
Alexandria Taylor, executive vice chair of the 13th District Republicans, agreed with Bivings on the importance of reaching out and said the pastors’ roundtable was a good start. The campaign is ramping up its outreach efforts every Saturday through Election Day.
So how can Republicans win more of the black vote?
“I think it has to be the ground game, the door knocking,” Taylor said. “I’m someone that spent majority of my adult life in the Democrat Party, and then I switched and came over here, and there are stark differences.”
“The Democrats, to me, take advantage of the black vote. So we can’t do that same thing and expect it to just pop out of thin air,” she continued. “We have to be willing to do the work and have the conversations. There’s no way around the hard work.”
Mike Rogers, Michigan’s Republican Senate candidate, was the only non-pastor with a speaking part.
The former congressman had recently joined Sewell on the east side of Pontiac — “the ‘hood,” Sewell noted — to reach black voters.
He told them what he told the pastors Thursday.
“I’m not asking you to be a Republican,” Rogers said. “I am asking you to take a chance on a set of ideas that will help this community, that will help us all grow.”
While the pastors talked about the many ways America strays from God’s word, including abortion and transgenderism, Rogers focused on literacy.
Illiteracy in the black community is robbing people of their futures, he said.
“We have a literacy crisis in America, and it’s not just in black neighborhoods or Hispanic neighborhoods or white neighborhoods, it’s all of us,” Rogers said. “Eighty percent of Michigan students cannot read at grade level.”
“I think education today may be the biggest civil rights issue of our lifetime,” he added. “If you can’t read by the fourth grade, you have a 70% chance of going to prison or being on welfare.”
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Why Detroit Red Wings’ Alex Lyon is feeling in mood for holiday re-gifting
Red Wings on goaltending situation with Alex Lyon & Ville Husso
Detroit Red Wings Alex Lyon, Ville Husso & Derek Lalonde, Dec. 17, 2024 in Detroit.
Alex Lyon had a busy day: Practice, prepare to return to the Detroit Red Wings’ lineup – and a bit of holiday re-gifting.
The affable goaltender has been cleared from the lower-body injury that has sidelined him for three weeks. He and Ville Husso are both available for Wednesday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers (7 p.m., TNT), while Cam Talbot is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
“Feeling good,” he said Tuesday. “Feeling happy, healthy and just excited to get back in and contribute. It’s always a good feeling.”
The Wings (12-14-4) are looking to win consecutive games for the first time since Thanksgiving. They spent quite a bit of time in practice working on special teams, as the power play – still a respectable 24.4%, in the top 10 in the NHL – has gone quiet the last four games. Marco Kasper, back in good health after missing the last game because of illness, was on Dylan Larkin’s unit.
To keep or not to keep
Throughout their struggles this season, goaltending has been the Wings’ most dependable asset. When Lyon, who hasn’t played since Nov. 25, and Talbot both were sidelined earlier this month, Husso handled the majority of the workload. Carrying three goaltenders can have its challenges – making sure all get enough reps in practice; fitting them under the 23-man limit – but it’s been very useful.
“We’ve been able to turn to an experienced goalie that we believe in all year,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “Over two years, good on our management team, thinking outside the box with roster management and being able to carry three goalies.
“It salvaged our season and got us on the brink of the playoffs last year, and it’s kept us in the battle this year. We’ve had four goalies win games for us this year and we’re not even at Christmas.”
Husso is coming off his first NHL win in more than a year, helping the Wings defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs Dec. 14. The Wings called him up Nov. 27 on an emergency basis, so when Talbot is also healthy, they will have to decide whether to carry three or send Husso back to Grand Rapids Griffins.
He knows that can happen, but “I just go day by day,” Husso said. “I don’t think there is any other way. Do my job and I don’t think about that other stuff.
“It’s been nice to be home and hopefully I’ll get to spend Christmas with the family. That will be good.”
Lalonde: Not yet
Lalonde deferred speculation, saying, “let’s get to three healthy goalies first,” and complemented Husso on his professionalism.
“Ville is just a genuinely really good person, very well liked in the room,” Lalonde said. “He’s a guy you root for. He’s worked hard. A lot of the adversity has come through injury, he’s had some lower body injuries he’s dealt with. He keeps working at it.”
Lyon is ready to get back to work.
“Being healthy is directly tied to your livelihood,” he said. “It’s an important factor and important to stay healthy, but at the same time, things happen.”
Things happen, and holidays happen, and it’s good to have gifts on hand. Lyon had some trinkets in his locker that were from past giveaways at games: A Mike Vernon mini goalie mask replica and a mini replica of Dominik Hasek’s stick.
“The Red Wings gave to me in the form of these presents and I just thought I’d give them right back,” Lyon said, smiling. “It’s the holiday spirit giving.”
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her latest book, “The Franchise: Detroit Red Wings, A Curated History of the Red Wings,” was released October 2024. Her books, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” and “The Big 50: The Men and Moments that made the Detroit Red Wings” are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
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