Donald Trump (left) and Rapper Lil Wayne
In a Dr. King Tele-Town Hall meeting hosted by attorneys Barbara Arnwine, president/founder of the Transformative Justice Coalition (TJC), and Board Chairman, Daryl D. Jones, Arnwine warned African Americans about the rise of the “Don’t Vote” songs invading social media sung by Black artists who are paid mega bucks to reduce Black voter turnout.
With the political stakes high, Arnwine issued a clarion call to all African Americans to be on the alert for this “Don’t Vote” campaign, first seen during the 2016 presidential campaign, that is re-emerging in the 2024 election year.
The plan, Arnwine said, is to encourage Black people not to vote in the 2024 election, just like they did four years ago.
This is likely to have been a contributing factor to the first decline in Black voter turnout in 20 years, and Arnwine said it’s happening all over again because the money has begun to flow and Black artists like Rapper Sexyy Red have begun to publicly pledge allegiance to Trump who just won the Iowa Caucus.
During last month’s podcast, Red said she wants to see Trump back in office. “I like Trump…they support him in the ’hood,” she boldly said.
While Arnwine’s organization is a 501-c3 organization and cannot promote partisan politics, the HuffPost and Newsweek blame some of the voter apathy of the 2016 “Don’t Vote” campaign on the Republicans, who want to suppress the Black vote.
Republicans have been using redistricting that dilutes the Black vote, along with requiring strict voter ID cards, a reduction or elimination of early voting, a reduction of polling places, and arrests if a person gives food or water to those waiting to vote, Arnwine pointed out during a Zoom call held on January 15, Dr. King’s birthday.
“These are just some of the significant structural challenges that have been used in the first election without the full protection of the 1965 Voting Rights Act,” warned Arnwine. “We must fight back and warn people about this ‘no vote’ campaign that has begun flooding social media.”
Red is not the only Black artist who has begun invading social media with the “don’t vote” campaign. Lil Wayne, DaBaby, Kodak Black, Chief Keef, Benny the Butcher and Waka Flocka Flame are part of a growing number of Black artists who willingly show their support for Trump.
It was Trump who pardoned Lil Wayne and Kodak Black for illegal possession of firearms. Though YG was once anti-Trump, now he said the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is the reason “Black people forgave him.”
He and other Hip-Hop artists like Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, have publicly begun to support Trump, including Lil Pump who recently was seen at a University of Mississippi concert chanting, “We want Trump.”
In an interview with the Chicago Crusader, Arnwine said during the month of January, that some call a month of celebrating Dr. King’s birthday, Blacks should be forming groups and organizing for a huge voter turnout on March 19.
“It’s not too early,” she said. “Remember Super Tuesday is March 5, when 16 states or territories will vote.” By the end of March, two-thirds of states and territories will have voted their choice of who will be the next nominee for each party.
And, then there is the “super bowl” of all of the elections, Tuesday, November 5, the presidential general election.
“We have all of these elections coming up,” Arnwine said. “There is a lot going on and people ought to be working, educating, and organizing voters, car clubs to help get people to the polls, organizing education sessions for people who want to use absentee ballots and helping the disabled.
“People need to be volunteering because there is such a big need for people out there to have assistance in continuing Dr. King’s legacy,” she said. “If Dr. King were alive today, he would be doing everything in his power to make sure people voted. He would be fighting voter suppression.
“Dr. King would be doing everything that he could to get young people to the polls, and he would do everything he could to fight this ‘no vote’ that is targeting young Blacks and others.”
Arnwine said, “All of these artists are being paid off and others who are being paid to convince young Black voters not to vote. It is a huge campaign. I think it is outrageous. It’s really important that people know how very dangerous this is to convince people to throw away their votes like this.”
According to Arnwine, anti-voting rights groups and others are paying Black artists to try and convince young African American voters not to vote. “It’s a really vicious campaign. Some people are telling voters no reparations, no vote.
“All of this is crazy, and Blacks are being paid to promote this as well as some whites pretending to be Black. There is a whole lot of deception in this campaign,” Arnwine said. “It is a serious problem because it’s infiltrating around the country. People don’t realize that this is all being orchestrated.”
Also on the Zoom call was Missouri Attorney Denise Lieberman who said because of the Eighth Circuit opinion that curtails the power of private citizens to challenge voting discrimination under Section 2, she is handcuffed from fighting for the rights of African Americans being denied the right to vote.
Arnwine said, “If you are racially discriminated against when we are trying to vote, we can’t go into court any more to enforce it in the Eighth Circuit. People want to make this the law of the land, but if they do, we’re all dead. In one polling place in Missouri, someone hung a noose in the polling place, but because of the law, she can’t sue,” said Arnwine. “It’s fight back time.’
