Amidst protesters demanding votes from being counted, a Detroit pastor said Black people have gone from “picking cotton to picking presidents”.
What We Know:
- Protests occurred outside of an arena used to count votes in Michigan. Protesters wanted to challenge the ballots, which swung Michigan to Democratic candidate Joe Biden.
- The protesters wanted to stop the count of 25,000 uncounted ballots, most of which were expected to be Democratic.
- Reverend Steve Bland understood the importance that the Black inner-city area will have on Michigan’s final result in the election. He told an MSNBC reporter, “The road of victory of any side is going to come through Michigan and through Detroit. And to stop the votes is to stop the very democracy that these persons are running to elect to uphold. So we want every vote to count because our vote is our voice, and it will be counted, and the election process will be done.”
- Reverand Bland continued, “Things are secure on the inside, but of course we have intimidating efforts on the outside, but we’re not deterred. As goes, Detroit will go Michigan. And Michigan will join the force of others to be able to say we are voting. And if you want to have record turnout and if you want to represent Michigan and Detroit, you ought to want every vote counted”.
- In response to “who do you think these people are?”, Bland answered: “These are persons who are passionate, and they are consistent. They’ve been saying all along they’re going to suggest that’s its rigged, it’s flawed or fake, they’ve been saying that before now. We need to be persistent to make sure our voice gets counted because, as goes Detroit, will be done so. And I will say, the Black vote in Detroit is higher than it’s ever been, and we will determine the outcome because we’ve gone from picking cotton to picking presidents.”
- Bland was apart of a group called “poll chaplains”, who encouraged voters and promoted each vote getting counted.
No winner has been announced in the race for the 2020 presidency, but Biden is coming closer to achieving such victory. Trump is challenging the counts in Pennslyvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Georgia.
