I, Michael “Harry O” Harris, am not only the co-founder of Death Row Records. I was also in prison for 33 years. During this time, I changed and took responsibility for my actions. I’ve seen the world change – what hasn’t changed is that my community has been ignored by political elites. But I knew that when I got out, I would commit to helping the black community assert itself.

Upon my release from prison, my mission became to ensure that our political leaders delivered results for the community: better schools and more jobs, not a hope, but a commitment. The kind of commitment that makes America great for everyone. To achieve this, I worked with experts to create the O Political planwhich includes our Access Program and our Redemption Program. Our Community First action launched the O-Plan Challenge and urged presidential candidates to commit to advancing policies that end empty promises.

I spent long hours working with my co-author Shay Hawkins, who served as a tax and international trade advisor in the Senate. The result was an access program based on existing economic development, job training, and, most importantly, an educational policy choice that applicants could reasonably commit to expanding. We also created a redemption program to reintegrate formerly incarcerated citizens into the workforce, family and community.

Politics is a game of carrots and sticks. For a community to have its interests taken into account, it must be willing to support candidates who defend its interests and to abstain from voting or actively vote against candidates who ignore its interests. Voting for candidates or supporting political parties who ignore your community hurts you in two ways: the candidate who gets your support takes you for granted, and the opposing party makes no serious effort to understand or serve your interests.

For more than 60 years, the Black community has overwhelmingly supported the Democratic Party, despite losing ground in wealth creation, poverty reduction, public safety and education. We are the most loyal and least respected constituency in America. THE voting data speak to the former, and political reality speaks to the latter.

Black men, however, began to assert themselves. As polls began to show that the Harris campaign had problems with black men, it responded in two ways. First, the campaign relied on President Joe Biden’s strategy of sending black surrogates to swing states to shame black men into voting for the Democratic candidate.

Former President Barack Obama was enlisted to make a racial appeal to black men to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris because she is part black. Obama noted that the lack of enthusiasm for Harris “seems to be more pronounced among the brothers.”

Second, well after early voting began in most key states and three weeks after Election Day, the Harris campaign released it. plan to “act for black men”. The plan itself is half a disingenuous criticism of former President Donald Trump, which assumes that no Black Americans experienced the first Trump administration, while the other half contains proposals so broad they could theoretically apply to the problems of any community.

Will this be enough to convince black voters on Tuesday? As black men, we say it’s unlikely.

From there, Our Community First Action decided to take a new approach to engaging the Black community and the 2024 presidential candidates. The approach was simple. Make a reasonable request. Challenge candidates, regardless of party, to meet the demand. Support candidates who make a concrete commitment to meeting demand. In short, we support those who support us. This wouldn’t seem odd from Jewish, Arab, Latino or Asian American voters. This feels like an ungrateful betrayal if you’re a Democratic politician like Biden, Harris, or Obama.

Our community-first effort leveraged Harry O’s connections in the entertainment industry to promote Plan O, and once awareness of the plan reached critical mass, we challenged presidential candidates to weigh in and commit to working with us to implement the plan on behalf of our community. On October 3, after three major concerts, dozens of interviews and twenty community meetings, Harry O published the challenge.

In eight days, Trump replied to the challenge via Truth Social, highlighting areas of the plan that were part of his past and future economic agenda. We never heard back from the Harris campaign, but her Black Male Opportunity Agenda came about a week later. Regardless, his document was more of an acknowledgment than the country’s leaders had previously allowed the vice president to give.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The black community supports those who, today and in the past, have supported us. This is exactly why Our Community First Action and Harry O announced our approval by Trump last month. Not only did Trump respond to Plan O for the future, but during his previous term he also implemented “opportunity zones”, the First Step Act, permanent funding for historically black colleges and universities and a tax reform bill that led to the lowest black unemployment rate in history. He has experience with the community that we can build on and trust.

God willing, this election will serve as a wake-up call to address the legitimate concerns of the black community through an education program that breaks vicious cycles and promotes economic progress, less inflation and less crime for our community. God willing, this will serve as a signal to both parties that black votes are available for candidates who treat our community with respect.

Michael “Harry O” Harris is co-founder of Death Row Records, a community activist and the founder of Our Community First Action. Shay Hawkins is president of the Opportunity Funds Association and has served as an international tax and trade advisor to the Senate.