It is possible Kanye West and Blexit (Black Exit from Democrats) are as significant in 2020 as Martin Luther King and the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) were in 1964. It is probable this nascent “black power” movement spells trouble for Democrats, because West is a game-changer. He rejects Democrat campaign promises, singing a defiant We Free message that invites African-Americans to stop crying Black Lives Matter and start voting their wallets and results.
West is more powerful today than the successful rapper that befriended President Trump – because a choir robe has replaced the MAGA hat, and Joel Osteen’s mega-church has replaced the Oval Office. Media pundits today aren’t calling West’s Jesus is King album a “minstrel show” because it became Billboard’s #1 album overnight and was streamed 197 million times in one week. CNN’s Don Lemon and MSNBC’s Joy Reid would just look jealous, because West’s audience far exceeds that of CNN and MSNBC combined.
It’s not hype to call West a black Messiah or Blexit a real movement because the second coming of the “prophets” from the Sounds of Silence was always going to be heard beyond “the subway walls and tenement halls.” Kanye West is Black Power 2.0 with a spiritual We free message that black voters can demand results from Democrats. We free also means ”liberals” should stop calling West a black Judas for extolling Trump’s economy or criticizing Clinton’s crime bill.
At the birth of Blexit, Candace Owens was “John the Baptist.” She launched the movement and message: celebrate economic self-determination, blame the welfare state for vast black absent-father rates, and reject Democrats who don’t improve education or reduce crime in black communities. West is the perfect face of Blexit because of self-made wealth and fame, plus his now-Christian ethos: Democrats sinned by just talking while black un-employment begat poverty that begat dependence on the central state.
Unlike Al Sharpton and Beto O’Rourke, West doesn’t blame black poverty on white privilege. He knows black Americans have paths to prosperity other than government work, pro sports, and entertainment: he succeeded as an entrepreneur in spite of being raised by a single mom. At the very least, his story and success guarantee blacks will listen to his words with curiosity.
West looked at Democrat-run cities and saw 50 years of failed results. He has now seen black unemployment plummet under Republican principles (lower corporate taxes and fewer regulations), convincing him black voters have nothing to lose by voting Republican. Blexit urges black voters to look beyond the 60s civil rights victories and ask: what have Democrats done for us lately?
The secular Blexit argument (policy-driven) is stronger when coupled with West’s born-again Christianity: 93% of black Americans believe in God and 75% attend church regularly (source: Pew Research). Black Christians are inclined to relate emotionally to West’s claim that God helped him beat mental illness, because many of their own problems have not been solved by government programs.
West reminds black voters they don’t have to vote for Trump: just look into their hearts. Do they believe in the dignity of a job and advantage of two-parent homes? Do they want their children to have church and charter school options? Do they agree with “progressive” social positions like abortion and gay marriage? Don’t look now, but Kanye West is advocating conservative American values better than most white Republicans, and his black-power message just might heal and unite the USA.