Thank you to everyone who came out yesterday and helped make the Ebony & Ivory Two Nekkid Heads Tour a big success. We filled restaurants, built relationships, learned some history, and had a great time interacting with Kevin Jackson and Joe the Plumber. The highlight was the big dinner at Lucille’s Southern Cuisine where we filled the room and conducted a town hall type forum with Kevin and Joe. These two very different men—in appearance and style—obviously enjoy a strong friendship and are able to passionately communicate a conservative message in an entertaining way.
Joe’s main push was self-education. He implored us not to trust anyone—including him—but to research every issue and develop our own opinions, rather than regurgitating what Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh says (his examples). That shouldn’t be a problem—educating ourselves has been one of the central focuses of the past two years as we’ve grown more concerned about and become more engaged in shaping the future of our nation.
Kevin’s main push was outreach. He believes—as do I—it’s critical to for us to connect with all types of communities, showing them that we are more alike than different. Richmond Tea Party has focused on minority outreach for some time now, but Kevin encouraged us to take it even further, helping those in need wherever and whenever we can, showing them that we can work together to improve our nation, rather than naively expect the government to be able to do anything for us.
We scheduled our meals yesterday in restaurants that are either minority owned or have a large minority customer base to build new relationships and show a segment of the population that is generally skeptical of us that we’re just regular people who share their concerns and don’t in any way reflect the media’s ridiculous portrayal of us. And our efforts made an impact.
The owner of Brooks Diner was thrilled we gave her a boost at a normally slow time on a Thursday morning. She seemed to enjoy getting to know us, too. This is someone who didn’t know much about the Tea Party before the tour, but now is interested in learning more. We will continue to maintain our relationship with her and, I hope, keep eating at her restaurant. I’m a big fan of diner food already, and hers was fantastic. Please go whenever you can (1600 Brook Rd). And tip well!
Toward the end of the evening at Lucile’s, the assistant manager stood up in front of our big group with a smile and enthusiastically thanked us for coming. The overall response from their staff was great. And the food was another winner. They brought baskets of cornbread—which I’m also big fan of—to every table, and it was some of the best I’ve ever eaten. Go to Lucile’s for that, if nothing else. But the rest of the food was excellent as well. It’s important that we keep returning and get to know the owners and customers. Not for any sort of manipulative reason, though; we should do it because we are all Americans with the same basic concerns, and we must be united if we ever hope to together fix the enormous problems our nation faces.
If we do that, there’s nothing the media and the professional politicians can do anymore to hold us back. They maintain their power by keeping us separated into various segments, arguing with each other; but if We the People from all over the country unite and finally stand together against We the Government, we WILL restore the founding principles of our great republic and surge ahead into a brighter tomorrow.
Cross-posted at redstatevirginia.com
