Steve Harvey And 30 pieces of Silver . . .

“Ain’t no mountain high enough
Ain’t no valley low enough
Ain’t no river wide enough
To keep me from getting to you.”

While the aforementioned lyrics bellowed by Diana Ross in the 1970’s was dedicated to black love, it’s fair to say these very same lyrics articulate the black rage being spewed at funny man Steve Harvey for meeting with President – elect Donald J. Trump.

For many in black academia and in the hood the meeting with President – elect Trump just 72 hours prior to the celebration of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday turned a dream weekend into a nightmare.

D L  Hughley commentary on the Harvey, Trump bruhaha!

When speaking on Harvey’s meeting with President – elect Trump, Harvey’s fellow Kings of Comedy tour mate D.L. Hughley tearfully voiced what weighed heavily on the hearts and minds of both black Republicans and black Democrats alike when he shouted “F.U. now Donald Trump and F.U. forever. I ain’t never going to forget how you stoked fears and delegitimized president Barack Obama.”

Harvey who prides himself in decoding “The Strawberry Letter” on a daily basis had to weigh the optics of his visit, right?

Harvey’s meeting with the Court Jester came only days after Trump met with a bipolar Kayne West, who was fresh out of the asylum, and a one on one with Floyd Mayweather, who was fresh out ideas of who to slap next.

Given the optics Harvey’s powwow appeared to be nothing more than a photo shoot to appease, “The Blacks.”

The ugly sentiment floating around Black Twitter, Black AmericaWeb, and every black community, you know those places designated as “What The Hell Do You Have To Lose Zones” is that we’ve been bamboozled, we’ve been hoodwinked, we’ve been led astray, by Judas seeking 30 pieces of silver for another suit, sitcom or reality show.

The water cooler gossip buzzing around every MLK parade route was that the guy who authored “Think Like A Man” was looking like an idiot paling around with a clown.

Steve’s initial comments about chatting it up with the President – elect about golf, and saying Trump’s a really congenial guy, lent credence that the meet was little more than a dog and pony show, verses a sincere effort to extend an olive branch and begin dialogue on how best to pony up resources to refurbish and rebrand Flint, Detroit, and every inner city between Harlem and Hollywood.

While some die heart fans in Steve Harvey’s corner might point to the ancient proverb which says, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend ” others firmly believe a more appropriate scripture taken from the book of Ricky Ricardo, chapter 1, which reads, “Stevie You Got Some Splaining To Do”

For a guy who prides himself on being streetwise, Nephew Tommy’s uncle got played the fool.

In response to the outrage, Steve jumped on his nationally syndicated radio show and quipped, “On a personal note, a lot of ya’ll hurt me,” “You really did. I didn’t expect the backlash to be so fierce.”

Tom Joyner of the Tom Joyner Morning Show even got in on the fun by essentially joking to his 8 million daily listeners, my audience just quadrupled thanks to Steve Harvey’s listeners fleeing The Harvey Show like a plague.

Truth be told I don’t think Harvey went to Trump Tower to line his pockets!

Really, I don’t.

By all accounts Harvey is a solid guy about the people’s business. I’d go as far to say he is a treasure in the black community whose mastered the art of joint venturing versus just complaining.

Far more than a funny man, Harvey is one of the hardest working and most astute businessmen in America whose merits should have garnered a White House roundtable rather than a quickie photo opt!

Although his intention were noble Harvey lost on optics the moment he stepped into the lions den (Trump’s Castle) without doing the following:

• Announcing to his radio listeners (his black audience) in advance that he would be meeting with President – elect Trump.

• Posting on his site the salients points he would be discussing with President – elect Trump.

• Harvey could have controlled the narrative by inviting wing men like Tony Elumelu, a Nigerian billionaire and philanthropist, who has vowed to disburse $100 million dollars to 10,000 black entrepreneurs over the next 10 years.

While the black community is still embroiled in an epic family feud over whether Steve should be thrown out with the bath water, my survey of three (Me, Myself and I) submit Steve ought to be given a hall pass to continue his nationwide mentoring of African American youth, and empowering those in the black community.

Real talk, it isn’t just Harvey’s, Oprah’s or Black Lives Matters, responsibility to invigorate, inspire, and grab a seat at the table. It’s our entire village, every tax paying person of color responsibility to advocate for a seat at the economic table and voice where and how federal appropriations and private dollars should be allocated.

Hell, are we really expected to sit back and sing a verse of “Come by here, my Lord, come by here” while watching outsiders do what they historically do, come into our community, tap federal resources to build “affordable housing” then race out of the neighborhood faster than a jack rabbit while pocketing millions.

While the optics were bad, I submit, rather than hanging Harvey out to dry and forcing him to mumble rap Kesha Coles . . .

“I remember when my heart broke,
I remember when you gave up loving me
My heart couldn’t take no more of you,
I was sad and lonely”

It’s high time, we join forces and go from anonymous WannaPreneurs to full fledge Entrepreneurs with the financial wherewithal to green-light our own rescue.

With a shared commitment of moving on up like George and Weezy and a prominent seat at the table, we’ll find ourselves jointly singing

“Ain’t no mountain high enough
Ain’t no valley low enough
Ain’t no river wide enough
To keep me from building a legacy in my community”

Maybe Harvey was playing checkers, while the court jester and his team of merry men were playing chess.

Maybe, just maybe Harvey was willing to take one for the team, so we the people to form a more perfect union could get our foot in the stadium. And once we got our foot in the stadium we’d go from squinting in the nose bleed seats to building coliseums.

Laugh out loud funny?

Maybe, just maybe Harvey was the trojan horse sent to crack the code and open up the flood gate of opportunity.

Edward E. Felder, Jr. MBA is 8-time author, frequent radio commentator on small biz lending, real estate development and business acquisition in urban America. His most recent book “The Art Of The Flip: 21 Days To Real Estate Riches” is available at www.TheFundingGuy.com and Amazon.com.
To book him for your Podcast, Corporate event or Financial Empowerment Day, I invite you to email 2TheFundingGuy@Gmail.com