DETROIT, Michigan — Black conservatives gathered in Detroit, Michigan, on Thursday evening ahead of former President Donald Trump’s speech at Turning Point Action’s The People’s Convention.
A BLEXIT event, featuring its founders Candace Owens and Brandon Tatum as keynote speakers, took place on Thursday evening in Detroit, where black conservatives gathered to hear from conservative thought leaders, including Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.
The event kicked off with singer-songwriter Raquita Harper performing the National Anthem while attendees stood with their hands over their hearts.
Before speakers took the stage, a video clip from President Joe Biden’s 1993 speech was presented to audience members, letting them recall a time when Biden, then a senator, warned of “predators on our streets,” adding, “We have no choice but to take them out of society” — which many viewed as commentary about the black community.
“I’m proud to tell you that over 70 percent of the BLEXIT leaders who are with us today previously thought that they identified with the left,” BLEXIT director Pierre Wilson told audience members, eliciting applause.
“We are reaching out to people who disagree,” Wilson continued. “And one of the things that we found out by actually going to where the battle is — black churches, historically black colleges and universities, Baltimore, Atlanta, Chicago — is that a lot of these individuals actually agree with us.”
“The battle wasn’t so much of whether they agree or disagree, the battle was getting to have the opportunity to talk to them,” Wilson added. “And now it made it clear to us why the left works so hard to silence our voices — because they were afraid that if the conversation happened, that we might just free some people and they might open their minds.”
“We are not Black Lives Matter. We are not segregating ourselves. We believe in America as a whole,” Wilson asserted of BLEXIT.
Audience members also heard from rapper Topher, Stephen Davis — also known as conservative activist Maga Hulk — and conservative comedian Terrence K. Williams, among others.
Williams blasted those who tell “young black children and teenagers” that “because of the white man, you don’t have a chance.”
“How could you tell somebody that no matter what they do, they will never have a chance,” Williams said, adding, “We live in the greatest country.”
When Owens took the stage alongside Tatum, she spoke of her Catholic faith and warned audience members about the impact Hollywood, music, and the establishment media can have on them.
“These people that we are fighting in society are truly demonic, and they impacting your spirit in a way where if you’re not aware of it, my goodness, how could you be immune to it?” Owens said.
“Your soul is real,” Owens continued. “And if you don’t believe that, then you should know that there are people who understand that, and they are impacting you through the media, they are impacting you through Hollywood, they are setting your desires through what you are watching and what you are hearing.”
“I grew up listening to such hardcore music, and now, because I’m so aware that I have a soul — I won’t even watch a scary movie, because I realize that is demonic, and I don’t want to take that in — I don’t listen to that music,” she added.
Owens told audience members, “Once you go through that process of cleansing yourself from all that evil, you will start to recognize just how dark those forces are.”
“In all that you do, you gotta put God first,” Tatum added.
The BLEXIT rally took place one day before the start of Turning Point Action’s three-day The People’s Convention, set to kick off Friday in Detroit, where attendees will have the opportunity to hear from scores of conservative speakers, including former President Donald Trump.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
