Today is a red letter day for the Old School, black conservatives and Republicans in America. Today is the day that an American multimillionaire decided to raise funds for a candidate for the US Senate. It's an old tradition, but today the players making headlines are both African American men of my generation.
It's about damned time.
The Maryland Democratic Party's traditional support among blacks appears to be slipping, now that hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons — who has helped register thousands of Democratic voters — has endorsed Republican Michael S. Steele for the U.S. Senate.
Mr. Simmons is scheduled to hold a fundraiser tonight at Baltimore's Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park for Mr. Steele, the lieutenant governor and the first black to win a statewide office in Maryland.
"Russell Simmons is one of the leading progressive voices in America," said Donna Brazile, who managed Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign.
"This is a major endorsement for Lieutenant Governor Steele that will help him attract young people, as well as black voters," Ms. Brazile said. "Once again, this should serve as a wake-up call to Democrats not to take their most loyal constituents and voters for granted."
This is the second shoe in a trifecta of events that will make August a superb month. The first shoe was the publication and press around Juan Williams' book 'Enough'. This is the second. If something else of this magnitude happens it will be a three legged monster. But there's already enough for the word to get up and walk around.
I've long admired Russell Simmons and have basically defended him from wack charges from trippin' Lefties before. We've long known that he's been pally with Pataki and other NY powers that be, and we've known that among all of the hiphop producers out there, he's the one with his head on most straight. This is just another feather in his cap.
The implications for black politics are very significant. It's rather like the debut of Denzel on screen. For years blackfolks were on the outs and putting up with okeydoke roles - those kinds of things that made superstars of (at best) mediocre talents like Jimmy Walker. (I use the Denzel / Walker comparison a lot). In both cases, the unbelievable just took a matter of time; there was never any reason for blackfolks to sweat that we wouldn't have the talent. Steele is the man who has no problem with the huge existential hurdles many blackfolks have in dealing with Republicanism. When Kanye West made a fool of himself over Bush & Katrina, we had to suffer through yet another barrage of idiotic stereotypes about who black republicans might be and if they were 'authentically black' or 'cared about black people'. In one minute, Russell Simmons has given everybody who finds unquestionable black love and authenticity in hiphop something heavy to think about.
First they ignore you. Then they acknowledge you but dismiss you. Then they take you seriously but fight you. Then they disagree with you but say you have a point. Finally they say they were with you all along. The denial stops today.
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