Herman Cain
I encourage you to watch Larry Elder’s documentary called “Uncle Tom”. It’s an excellent expose about black self-empowerment and rejecting the victim narrative. From Larry’s website, “In a collection of intimate interviews with some of America’s most provocative black conservative thinkers, Uncle Tom takes a different look at being black in America.
Featuring media personalities, ministers, civil rights activists, veterans, and a self-employed plumber, the film explores their personal journeys of navigating the world as one of America’s most misunderstood political and cultural groups: The American Black Conservative.
In this eye-opening film from Director Justin Malone and Executive Producer Larry Elder, Uncle Tom examines self-empowerment, individualism and rejecting the victim narrative. Uncle Tom shows us a different perspective of American History from this often ignored and ridiculed group.”
Herman Cain is one of the many success stories in the film. And, I have to admit, I didn’t know much about him, but I’ve had to watch this documentary twice because it’s packed full of awesome messaging. Each time I watch it, I cry and laugh with Herman Cain. What an amazing personality. I wish I discovered his philosophies, conservative positions, and overall story sooner.
Just a little bit about him, Herman Cain graduated from Morehouse with a degree in mathematics, and after college he got a job with the US Navy. As he tells in the film, another gentleman, a white man, was getting promotional pay due to him having a master’s degree, NOT because he was white. Herman then enrolled in Purdue University and got his master’s in computer science, after which he was promoted to a systems analyst with the Navy working on a strategic missile project. Cain worked for the Coca Cola Company, and then the Pillsbury Company where he was promoted to CEO of Godfather’s Pizza after having saved struggling Burger King franchises, and ultimately staving off bankruptcy for Pillsbury’s Godfather’s Pizza holding.
Herman Cain also served as Deputy Chair and Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, likely where he got his taste for politics. Cain first came to national prominence after confronting U.S. Pres. Bill Clinton at a nationally televised town hall meeting over health care reform. Cain saw the proposed changes as unfair to business owners and claimed that they would force him to cut jobs. His outspoken questioning of Clinton led prominent Republicans Jack Kemp and Newt Gingrich to recruit Cain for an economic study group. He later served as an adviser to Kemp when he was selected by Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole to run as vice president in 1996.
He became a vocal critic of then President Barack Obama, positioning himself as a spokesman of the burgeoning Tea Party movement. In May 2011 Cain announced his bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. In September he registered a surprise victory in the Florida straw poll, and, buoyed by appearances in debates among Republican candidates, Cain emerged as a front-runner. Cain’s centerpiece legislation was his 9-9-9 plan. A flat tax of 9% on personal income, place 9% tax on corporate income, and impose a 9% federal sales tax. The plan got mixed reviews, but some supporters, like the Club for Growth, Larry Kudlow, and famous economist, Arthur Laffer said, “Herman Cain’s 9–9–9 plan would be a vast improvement over the current tax system and boom the U.S. economy.”
Nonetheless, Herman Cain was a big, bright personality, and I can’t get enough of watching his past appearances. What a delightful human being. I wish I could have met him – he definitely would have made my bucket list along side, Tim Scott and Trey Gowdy.
Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Jack Kemp, referred to Cain as “the Colin Powell of American capitalism”. Kemp stated that Cain’s “conquests won’t be counted in terms of countries liberated or lives saved, but in those things that make life worth living—expanding opportunity, creating jobs and broadening horizons, not just for those he knows, but through his example, for those he’ll never meet.”
Perhaps Herman Cain’s friend Spencer Wiggins said it best at his funeral, “Herman had a rare gift. He could walk into a room and light it up!”
