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In Detroit, Republicans pray pastors can help them win black votes

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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.”

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Why?

Donald Trump stumps Friday in Walker, Mich. AFP via Getty Images

“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.”

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“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.

Pastor Lorenzo Sewell of 180Church speaks on the RNC’s final day. William Glasheen / USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK

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.”

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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?’”

Apostle Ellis L. Smith, a Redford pastor, speaks at a Sept. 26 ministers’ roundtable in Detroit. James David Dickson for the New York Post

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.

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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.

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Mike Rogers, Michigan’s Republican Senate candidate, was the only non-pastor with a speaking role at the roundtable. James Dickson/NY Post

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.”

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“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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Detroit, MI

Child shot while riding bike outside home on Detroit’s west side, police say

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Child shot while riding bike outside home on Detroit’s west side, police say



The Detroit Police Department is investigating after a 5-year-old child was shot in the arm near a park on Tuesday.

The shooting happened at about 8:50 p.m. near the Fargo-Oaklfield Playground on the city’s west side. Police Chief Todd Bettison says the child was in front of his home riding a bike with his father supervising at the time of the shooting. 

Bettison says an individual at the park fired multiple shots, striking the child. He says the boy’s father reported hearing shots and the child falling from his bike.

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Bettison says the child is expected to be OK.

Bettison says the person appears to have been firing shots randomly, which he calls “problematic.” He says a person of interest is described as possibly between 15 and 16 years old and wearing a mask. He says the person is known to frequent the area.

“When you fire a weapon, what goes up must go down,” Bettison said. “To parents and everyone, know where your kids are. Juveniles should not have guns, and whether you’re an adult or a child, you should not be firing a weapon inside of the city limits.”

Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield released a statement, saying in part, “By the grace of God, this young boy will recover from his injury and is on his way home from the hospital. With that said, this incident was senseless and could have had a much more tragic ending.

“Every child in Detroit deserves to feel safe riding their bike, playing outside, and simply being a child in their own neighborhood. We cannot accept a reality where our children are placed in harm’s way because someone chose to recklessly fire a gun.”

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Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 800-Speak Up.



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Detroit, MI

Firefighters battle large blaze at vacant apartment complex on Detroit’s west side

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Firefighters battle large blaze at vacant apartment complex on Detroit’s west side


The Detroit Fire Department said no injuries have been reported

DETROIT – Firefighters are battling a large fire at a vacant apartment complex on Detroit’s west side.

The fire was reported on Fenton Street, just off Grand River Avenue near Telegraph Road on Tuesday (July 7).

The Detroit Fire Department said no injuries have been reported.

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Officials also said the fire appears to be under control.

The cause of the fire has not been released, and it was not immediately clear how long crews expect to remain at the scene.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.




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Detroit, MI

GET TO KNOW: Wide receiver Kendrick Law

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GET TO KNOW: Wide receiver Kendrick Law


Law: Lion. I had the Lion’s head on my back before I got here.

Law: Cornbread casserole, if it’s a meal, or a banana pudding.

What would your entrance music be?

Do you have any hidden talents?

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Law: No, I need help on that. It’s hidden. I haven’t found it yet.

How would you describe your job to a five-year-old?

If you weren’t playing football, what would you be doing?

Law: I’d definitely be a blue-collar worker. I am a licensed welder.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

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If you could play a different NFL position, what would it be?

Law: Safety. I am an athlete, so even at Bama and Kentucky, I literally played everywhere. I’ve played everywhere on the field besides O-line and D-line.

What is your proudest accomplishment?

What is your favorite thing about Detroit so far?

Law: The people in Detroit are nice.

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