Uprising

by Diamond

  That’s right.

  Another one of the evil categories that the “tolerant Left” wants to throw conservative black folks into is the “dishonest swindler” category, or the grifter. They’d rather categorize us as con artists than entrepreneurs or people who are obtaining the American dream.

  You know who calls us grifters? It’s these left-leaning white liberals—and then black people fall in line with it.

  Mm-hmm.

  They always talk about racism; they want to keep that before you. Those are called dog whistles. They use it to keep you in line on what we call the Democrat Plantation. Now, I’m not talking about people being physically on a plantation. I’m talking about your mindset still being stuck in the era of somebody having you in bondage and pain.

  Yes. Wow.

  It’s rooted so deep in you that you can’t even pull yourself up a little bit to get out of that type of mentality and that type of stinking thinking.

  Mm-hmm. That’s right.

  The Left had average citizens terrified of some kind of white supremacist takeover where the freedoms of the minority groups would be trampled. That’s not true at all. When Donald Trump said, “Make America Great Again,” it was not an invitation to white people to take over. It was an invitation for all Americans—all—to dream something big in your life, go after it with hard work, and be as great as you can be. That’s the American dream. And that goes for black, white, Hispanic, Asian, or any other American citizen.

  Go after the American dream.

  Then you have black people still falling for the old okeydoke, the same old lie: “We’ll do whatever the leader says to do.” The leaders are taking advantage of this! As a matter of fact, I even heard somebody say—which I thought was appalling—“Vote blue, no matter who.”

  Say what?

  Now, to me, that is an ignorant view to instill in black people. That “who” could be a socialist who wants to take away your freedom, wants to give you everything for free, as if you can’t comprehend and get up off your own ass and get it for yourself.

  Mm-hmm. And you know, for decades we voted blue, no matter who, and we see where that got us.

  That’s right.

  See, when people allow other people to indoctrinate them, they lose their ability to think for themselves. Somebody always has to be leading them. Well, we don’t have to be led. We are blessed to have our own minds to think for ourselves. That’s why Diamond and Silk choose to think outside of the box—which I call the black box.

  That’s right.

  What is it with the Democrats wanting to keep anything regarding slavery in front of our eyes, in front of our children’s and grandchildren’s eyes, be it on TV, radio, pictures, anything that displays slavery? As long as they can keep black people living in the pain of their ancestors, then they’ll keep them stuck there as if they are slaves themselves.

  That’s why it was so good to hear a billionaire telling us, “I hope you’ve monetized this.” Donald Trump’s message was just the opposite of the Democrats’ invitation to a permanent pity party. It let us know that he wanted us to make money—and lots of it.

  That’s right. There’s nothing wrong with making money or having money.

  Then he asked us to do a little routine. Now, some people got offended by that. We didn’t. Even though we are authentic when we speak on our YouTube videos, we do possess a certain flavor when delivering our message.

  Mm-hmm. Yes.

  So we got onstage, and we did our thing. Candidate Trump didn’t know us from Adam or Eve, but he stepped back and he had enough confidence to know we weren’t going to say anything to disappoint him in any kind of way.

  You know, I would even go as far as to say that he entrusted us with his microphone, knowing that we supported him, period.

  That’s right.

  He put that trust in us, and that was that.

  That’s right. He knew he could trust us; he went with his gut instinct.

  Mm-hmm.

  So, once he gave us that mic, we let the world know—because there were hundreds of cameras back there from all over the world.

  Mm-hmm, all over the country and the world.

  We declared it boldly right there to all of them that he was going to be the forty-fifth President of these United States.

  When Diamond walked onto that stage and told the world that Donald Trump was going to be the forty-fifth President of these United States, that’s when Diamond and Silk became famous. That was on December 4, 2015.

  That’s right. Now everybody, all over the world, knew who we were. We didn’t even realize what had happened.

  Hahaha. We didn’t.

  As a matter of fact, after the rally, we stayed over to talk to some Trump fans who wanted to snap photos of us with their cell phones. We didn’t think there was a security issue or anything unusual about it.

  George finally came to us and said, “Listen, girls, you don’t know how famous you are. You can’t just be down here like this.”

  That’s right.

  We had no idea. So George had to get us back in the car and back to the hotel instead of standing around talking to people.

  That’s right.

  I didn’t realize how famous we were until the very next day when it hit the media. I mean, it was all over the media that Diamond and Silk met candidate Trump for the very first time and joined him onstage.

  When it got to the black media…

  Whoa.

  Black media let their ignorance show. They were so upset that it stunned the heck out of me. Now, remember, I’ve been bullied, I’ve been abused, but I have never before received this type of harassment, all because I told the world that Donald J. Trump was going to be the forty-fifth President of these United States.

  If we wanted to back down, Daddy had the words of wisdom we needed. He said, “Listen, you can’t fold and go cold now. Y’all have to stand up. Now that you’ve got their attention, you can talk.”

  Mm-hmm. That’s right. And that’s what we did.

  That was big. Some black people weren’t paying attention, but when they saw two black women go onstage and say, “Donald J. Trump is going to be the forty-fifth President of these United States,” woah, they had a problem with that.

  That’s right.

  Some of the media outlets were even disparaging and demeaning us because of the power and influence of our words.

  Mm-hmm.

  We are living proof of what happens to someone when they dare to disagree with the Left. They set a deliberate plan in motion to demonize us before the public so that other Americans, especially black Americans, wouldn’t be persuaded by us.

  Keep in mind, we didn’t even know we had the power to sway others. We weren’t trying to sway people at all.

  That’s right.

  We were just on the man’s stage sharing our hearts. We had already heard his message: he wanted to kill NAFTA the same way it killed our jobs. We agreed that it just made sense that controlling illegal immigration would be easier if a wall was in place along our southern border. And why should other countries charge us top dollar to bring our goods to their nations while they send their goods here all day long for free?

  When we endorsed Donald J. Trump that night, we were simply speaking our minds. Everything we’d seen and heard so far brought us to the conclusion that Donald J. Trump was the better candidate, and we were confident that he was going to win.

  That’s right. We had no idea that we were going to become famous. We had no idea that a lot of hate was going to be coming from the left-wing media and especially from some black people. We had no earthly idea.

  We refused to be bullied into silence, though. I said Donald J. Trump was going to be our forty-fifth president, and I said it boldly. I stood behind that statement as the hate started pouring in because I meant it. If I said it, I meant it.

  Well, they sure tried to bully us into silence. The next day, incoming hate surrounded us. I wouldn’t say tha
t we second-guessed ourselves, but we had to decide what was really important when this happened. We knew that we could not allow anybody to silence our voices any longer.

  We had just gone onstage with a presidential nominee, and straight hate was coming at us. There was so much hate assailing us that we had to do something to fight back. So Diamond came up with another great idea: the Wall of Shame.

  The Wall of Shame is a place on our website where people who make disparaging, despicable, disturbing comments are highlighted for all to see. Even people who are prominent, famous, verified, or have a blue checkmark by their name are put on this particular wall. Then we tweet or send out the link on Facebook for all to see who made disparaging comments. They made the comments public; why can’t we?

  We also have a Wall of Fame for folks that thank us, love us, and support us.

  I thought it was very important that America see what true racism really looks like. Oftentimes, white Americans get accused of racism, and it’s like all of the bad things that have ever happened or will happen to black people are rolled into this word. No one thinks about what it really means or if they’re guilty of it. They just believe whites are the sole cause of it.

  Well, that’s just not true. Racism can go both ways, and true racism—the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race—was what was happening to us.

  To our shock, it came mostly from our black brothers and sisters, and I still call them my brothers and sisters because they didn’t know any better. They were being racist toward their black sisters.

  That’s right.

  Sometimes it’s hard for some black people to understand change. If anything looks out of the norm, they’re going to talk about it, ostracize it, criticize it, and demonize it. So two black girls getting up on a political stage to endorse a very powerful white Republican who happens to be a billionaire businessman was just too much for them. To make matters worse, their skewed thinking was being reinforced by the left-wing media, blogs, social media posts, and so much more.

  Again, we faced a moment of deciding what was really important. Diamond and Silk started off strong. We were strong through this whole process, and we were going to continue being strong. The more they spewed hate, the more we let them because—guess what?—our haters made us greater.

  Our haters made us greater, and the more they hate, the more we educate. We use those slogans because, like our father said, if they’re hating you that means you’ve got their attention. Now you need to speak. Now is not the time to fold and go cold.

  That’s right.

  And guess what? We got even louder.

  That’s exactly what we did.

  Now, if you think just meeting him was something, we’ve got a lot more to tell. Wait until you hear the rest of the story.

  Now, we don’t want you to think it’s all bad out there. We couldn’t do what we do without some amazing people that come around us with pure hearts to help.

  It’s the truth, y’all.

  Chapter 10 Giving without Expecting Anything in Return

  Life was still somewhat normal on January 1, 2016. The whole family had come over for New Year’s dinner. Delicious aromas filled the air, and there was hope for a great new year.

  The nation seemed to be thawing from the depression put upon us during the Obama years. The prospect of candidate Trump’s sure win in November 2016 had me feeling so positive that I renamed my menu and cooked Slap-Your-Mama Southern Fried Chicken, Money-Drawing Collard Greens and Ham Hocks, Extremely Lucky Black-Eyed Peas with Fatback, Magnificently Prosperous Mac and Cheese, and Wealthy Golden Corn-Bread-and-Banana Pudding. Hahaha.

  Hahaha. Yes, indeed.

  After dinner, we slowly made our way to the living room to watch a movie. Now, as we were sitting there, y’all, I could just feel this chill full of energy and excitement, maybe even a warning in my gut. I turned to Diamond out of nowhere and said, “Something huge is about to happen. Life is about to change; I just want you to know that.”

  Right. Silk knew something big was about to happen.

  That’s right. It was midday, I want to say around two or three o’clock.

  Yes. And the one thing about Silk and me—I think we both have this intuition—when we say something, it’s surely going to happen.

  Oh, yes.

  We don’t know when, but it is going to happen, especially if we start feeling the chill with it.

  Oh, yes. It’s going to happen. So I felt it, I spoke it out, and we let it go. That was the end of it. You didn’t even ask me to expound on it or anything. You just said, “Okay.”

  That was the end of it.

  So maybe an hour later, my cell phone rang. It was George, the facilitator for all of the Trump campaign and rally events.

  Mm-hmm. He was the gentleman who had greeted us at the 2015 rally in Raleigh, North Carolina.

  So he wanted to know if we wanted to come to the rally in Biloxi, Mississippi, to speak and pump up the crowd, pretty much.

  I remember, we were so happy when we got that phone call. You had just said to me, “Our lives are about to change.” And it wasn’t an hour or so later that we received this call. Well, guess what? Our lives really were about to change because that was the start of us speaking at different rally events.

  That’s right.

  Biloxi, Mississippi: Mississippi Coast Coliseum and Convention Center, January 2, 2016

  So we went to the rally in Biloxi, Mississippi. That was the night we met Eric and Lara Trump.

  Mm-hmm. They were kind and gracious, y’all, and so enthusiastic about our support for candidate Trump.

  Yes, they were. I remember the roaring of the crowd when we got onstage and said, “Are we all stumping for Trump?” They went nuts, y’all. It was a phenomenal event. The room was full of energy, and people were there waiting to see candidate Donald J. Trump.

  Yes. What I remember especially about that particular night was they made sure we were placed with the family. We stood down there with Lara and Eric, just the four of us. It was like we were two more of the kids.

  So, that night, candidate Donald Trump called us onstage with him again, to say a few words, and this was the beginning of our participation in rallies.

  Mm-hmm.

  Des Moines, Iowa: Iowa Events Center, Veterans’ Fundraiser, January 28, 2016

  So I don’t know if people can remember, but candidate Trump skipped the January 28, 2016, Republican debate.

  That’s right.

  He went to Iowa to raise money for veterans instead.

  Mm-hmm. And it was like we just felt something in our craw, an urgency in our sense of intuition, if you will. We had to be there.

  Right. In Iowa.

  We were at Diamond’s house, making some videos, and we made a decision that night that we were going to Iowa.

  If he wasn’t going to be on the debate stage, we were going to support him where he was.

  That’s right.

  So we made a phone call to George, booked our tickets, and we went directly to the Iowa Events Center, in Des Moines. I can’t remember a more frigid city than Des Moines, Iowa.

  It was very cold in Iowa. I do remember that.

  When we arrived at the events center, we were taken backstage. We had the privilege of meeting our veterans, some of whom had been maimed, lost limbs, or been disfigured. I remember feeling so humbled and respectful of the fact that these people fought for us to be able to be free in this country. I was so honored to even share the same space as them.

  Yes. It was a phenomenal event and a valuable experience.

  A valuable experience that I’ll never forget.

  Yes.

  After greeting the veterans, George took us to the stage for our speech. The crowd was pumped, y’all, and candidate Trump hadn’t even gotten there yet. I can’t explain that kind of contagious energy.

&nb
sp; It was contagious and powerful.

  So after our time on the stage, we were brought to our seats. Remember those seats in the nosebleed section? Well, this time we were escorted to the very front row of the auditorium, on the left side.

  Mm-hmm.

  I remember sitting by Tana Goertz, who used to play on The Apprentice and was also part of the 2016 Trump campaign.

  That’s right. Yes.

  In the front row, on the right side of the auditorium, sat candidate Trump’s family: Ivanka Trump, Don Jr., and Eric Trump. When they looked over and saw it was Diamond and Silk, they came over to greet us, to hug us, and say hello to us.

  Yes. They were humble and gracious. They were nothing like the media try to make them out to be.

  Right. Say what you want, they were down to earth then, and they’re still down to earth today.

  They sure are.

  They were not bougie; they were not stuck-up; and they didn’t know us from Adam or Eve. They were just so kind to us and so grateful that we were stumping for Trump. Their demeanor was not standoffish at all. They thanked us, and we really felt appreciated.

  That’s a very good description of how it was. Now, keep in mind that we had already met Eric in Biloxi, Mississippi.

  Mike Huckabee and Sarah Sanders were also there at this time.

  Mike Huckabee had just dropped out of the race.

  Mm-hmm. So candidate Trump was speaking and suddenly says, “I see two of my friends in the audience, and they’ve become very famous and very rich.”

  We looked around like, who is he talking about? So then he says, “Diamond and Silk, get up here for a second.”

  I was so tickled by that. I remember turning to Tana and saying, “We’re not rich. Maybe he’s calling those things that are not as though they are.”

  Just as we’re getting up on the stage, protesters started shouting. His response to them says a lot about him: “You know, I really believe if we took them into a room and just talked to them, it would be fine. They’d understand. We want strength; we want good healthcare, we want good protection, we want borders; we want the wall.”