A pastor told a reporter that Black people have gone from "picking cotton to picking presidents" Wednesday (November 4) as protesters in Detroit tried to stop votes from being counted. Republican protestors bombarded the TCF Center in Detroit to challenge votes in the close 2020 presidential race between President Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
Both Democrats and Republicans were denied entry into the venue because officials said it was over capacity. Representatives from the Michigan ACLU, League of Women voters and other organizations were also present. There were also 25,000 uncounted ballots as of 6 p.m. Wednesday, mostly from Detroiters who were expected to vote Democratic.
A MSNBC reporter at the scene interviewed to Rev. Steve Bland, the senior pastor of Detroit's Liberty Baptist Church. What he said went viral on social media.
“We are in the process of getting all the votes counted,” he told the journalist. “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.”
Bland is a "poll chaplain," a person who encourage voters and ensure votes are counted. He went on to talk about the security of the TCF Center, the importance of having every vote counted, and that they will not be deterred by "intimidating efforts on the outside." The interviewer then asked Bland, “Who do you think these people are?”
"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 just 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 said.
Detroit was anticipated to help bring the state in Biden's favor, according to the New York Times. Michigan swung blue Wednesday night, bringing more electoral votes toward the Democratic candidate. Trump won the state back in 2016.
Photo: Getty Images