While others were being so sure that they were in line to be president of the United States, Herman Cain prayed for guidance. How do I know this? In 2010ís North Carolina Hall of Fame Banquet Fund Raiser, I was asked to introduce Mr. Cain from a prepared resumČ. After taking one glance at it, I set it aside and did the introduction from my heart. I appreciated that there were not six degrees of separation between us but paths of convergence including deep Georgia roots, his and mine on the paternal side; an undergraduate Morehouse connection for him and my father involving Dr. Benjamin Elias Mays; use of a hearse to deliver Godfatherís Pizzas and by my brotherís funeral parlor; as well as a Purdue University appreciation from one of my ex-loves and my nephew who is currently there.
For 30 minutes reaching deep into the depths of his experiences, without notes, Herman Cainís baritone voice rendered a stirring and impassioned charge to the Republican Party, building upon his humble beginnings as a poor boy whose father taught him well the need to be responsible for his own life and outcome, even if it meant assuming three jobs as he had done. He talked philosophically about the lessons of Benjamin Mays, who told him and the other black young men the value of a minute to their lives and the imperative that such not be wasted.
Cain shared his plight in having been diagnosed with stage four colon cancer which had spread to his liver, now being cancer-free for five years. Then he closed, noting he was prayerfully in discussions to determine whether this desire he had to become president of the USA was being divinely guided.
So here he stands leading in the polls on the Republican ticket, and the party rank and file are flabbergasted and often rattled ó as are the Democratic black apologists ó by his rise and on-point messages.
The one unique thing Cain brings to the table, which no other candidate or president has had, is experience directly on the Federal Reserve, which in some ways is at the heart of the national and international economic mess. His line that he is a businessman from Main Street, where folks likely eat a lot of pizza, not a captive of Wall Street, should have appeal to those presently occupying those environs in protests. Unfortunately, if he is not the nominee, this will haunt whoever is chosen.
Though maybe a bit naive in stating that color is not important in this race, Cainís credibility with blacks cuts to the chase on some pernicious brain washing that affects us as a people. It has been inflicted by those with secondary gains who would chain us to entitlements and not show us, as his example does, how to break our bonds through education, creativity and persistence.
Al Sharpton, Tavis Smiley and Cornell Westís attacks on Mr. Cain are debasing to different views which exist within the black community. These narrow minds seem to express the ingrained notion that we must march in lockstep, for there is only room for Democrats and one black person to rise at a time, as if they are our own overseers.
Harry Belafonte forgets his song, ěDay O,î for the day is over when black conservatives will sit silently bludgeoned into conformity by belief systems which devalue the family, promote ignorance and excuse criminal behavior.
If speaking against these things belittles us in the eyes of some, we will not take these personal assaults without fighting back.
Herman Cain is very threatening to the old guard and the old way of thinking. He isnít to be an example of a Republican response to the Obama black phenomenon. Cain has hit on what angers many Americans most ó the IRS, which is complex and unfair. In tackling the right problem, he simplifies with 9-9-9 to get the conversation started.
As a graduate of a historically black college, Cain knows all too well that preferences given to those illegally in the nation push back to the back of the line those legitimately here and those who have waited their turn. As a millionaire businessman with credentials better than the present occupant had when he entered the White House, Cain canít be ěPalinídî to death without the media and blacks showing their true colors. Is raising Cain to be feared?
Who we vote for should be determined by who is best on the issues for the nation. Cain has risen. Can he sustain his rise, and then what? Howís that hope and change working for you?

Dr. Ada M. Fisher is a physician, writer, teacher and previously elected school board member. She is the N.C Republican Committeewoman. Contact her at P.O. Box 777, Salisbury, NC 28145 or DrFisher@dradamfisher.com.