Why RISE Expanded — and Why the Mission Was Always Bigger

I want to take a moment to apologize to nobody.

When we stepped into the next phase of this mission and launched TPUSA RISE, a small number of critics assumed expansion meant abandonment. They believed that serving more communities meant caring less about the one where we started. That assumption misunderstands both our heart and our history.

In the early years, many people viewed our work strictly through the lens of a black exit. That framing made sense at the time. We were speaking directly into the cultural and political realities affecting black America. But what God placed on my heart was never confined to a demographic category. It was about empowerment rooted in truth. It was about strengthening families. It was about reclaiming culture.

I know what it feels like to believe the narrative. I grew up surrounded by it. I defended it. I voted inside of it. Walking away from that mindset cost me relationships and comfort. But it gave me clarity. That clarity built this movement. It proved that no community is permanently locked into one political direction. If black America could begin questioning what it had been told for decades, then other communities could too.

As we grew, it became obvious that the damage we were confronting was not isolated to one community. The same progressive policies that devastated black neighborhoods for generations were spreading their influence elsewhere. Broken family structures did not happen by accident. They followed decades of welfare expansion that penalized marriage. Educational decline did not happen randomly. It followed teachers’ unions and progressive education policies that lowered standards and protected bureaucracy over children. Small business barriers did not appear overnight. They followed regulation-heavy governance that crushed entrepreneurship.

This is not victim language. It is cause and effect.

The data confirms there is work to be done. In the 2020 presidential election, national exit polling showed that roughly 87 percent of black voters, about 65 percent of Hispanic voters, and approximately 61 percent of Asian voters supported the progressive candidate. Even in 2024, while there was measurable movement among Hispanic and black voters toward conservative candidates, the majority still leaned progressive nationally.

That tells us something important. It tells us progressive messaging still dominates in minority communities. It tells us decades of political loyalty have not produced cultural restoration. It tells us many families are still being told that government is their primary solution instead of faith, family, and free enterprise.

Some assume certain communities “have it together” and therefore do not need engagement. That assumption ignores reality. When progressive policy expands, its consequences follow. We have seen it in urban black communities. We have seen it in working-class Hispanic neighborhoods. We have seen it in Asian business districts burdened by overregulation and soft-on-crime governance in major cities.

The left’s policies do not discriminate in their consequences.

Let me be clear. We are not abandoning the black community. Black America remains central to our mission. What has changed is not our conviction. It is our capacity.

When we first began, we were building from scratch. We were proving that a minority conservative grassroots movement could exist and thrive. Today, we have more than 1,100 city chapters across the country and a network of over 250,000 individuals. We have built systems. We have trained leaders. We have scaled operations. Growth has required staff expansion and structural development. We are no longer operating from limitation. We are operating from strength.

Operating as a department within Turning Point USA has allowed that strength to multiply. Charlie Kirk built something historic. His discipline and vision created infrastructure that made national minority outreach possible at scale. His passing is deeply felt. But honoring a legacy does not mean slowing down. It means stewarding what was built and carrying it further.

We intend to do exactly that.

Expansion does not equal betrayal. Growth does not cancel origin. It means we are finally equipped to confront progressive damage wherever it appears and to offer something stronger in its place.

Some operate from scarcity. They believe influence must be guarded and territory protected. We operate from conviction. If progressive policy harms a community, we will go there. If families are being weakened, we will strengthen them. If young leaders are being misled, we will train them.

I will continue to raise the bar. Every time someone suggests we should stay smaller, we will build larger. That is how we got here. That is how we move forward.

I apologize to nobody for answering a call that was always bigger than we first imagined.

This is RISE. And we are just getting started.

Blexit Foundation

I Apologize to Nobody

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