Black Pastor, El-Sayed Voter Takes Breakfast Meeting With Rogers
(Source: MIRS.news, Published 10/30/2026) (DETROIT) – Detroit Pastor Charles Williams II had a breakfast meeting with Republican U.S. Senate nominee Mike Rogers Saturday morning despite already endorsing and voting for Democrat Abdul El-Sayed.
"I took the meeting with Mike Rogers on this morning. We talked about police brutality; it's a big issue in our community. We talked about economic empowerment and education; it's a huge issue in our community. We talked about the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, and how we come to some policies that actually work for the American people," Williams said to reporters today.
Outside the Clique restaurant on Jefferson Avenue, Williams, the pastor of the Historic King Solomon Baptist Church, said, "Anytime you have a Republican who has an open ear for that, you gotta appreciate it."
Williams also founded the Detroit Benevolent Society during the COVID-19 pandemic, serving as a collective of Black churches and other groups to assist low-income and senior residents.
Rogers' campaign efforts in Detroit have put a spotlight on the tensions between the region's Black and Arab American communities.
Williams said there's been a long-standing issue, with liquor stores, gas stations and weed stores throughout Detroit owned by Arab Americans and Black residents feeling disrespected. He thinks El-Sayed, regardless of the upcoming election results, has an opportunity to show leadership and help the two groups come together.
"Whether it's calling our women out of their names, whether it's overpriced food, whether it's bad food, the disrespect is there. Now, is that every Arab American? No, it's not," Williams said. "This is a tremendous opportunity for (Abdul) to show leadership on that, and I think people are really going to be looking towards him, regardless of what happens on the other side of this election."
Rogers thinks he's the type of candidate who can come in and try diffusing the problem, noting his campaign has discussed Detroit's food desert problem and wanting to make it easier for Detroiters to start for-profit businesses that employ the community.
Detroit one million asked Rogers if he supports the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act legislation that President Donald Trump has backed. The legislation would raise the standards nationally for requiring proof of citizenship be shown ahead of casting ballots and registering to vote, and has been criticized by civil rights groups for limiting access.
Rogers said he would support legislation requiring ID be shown to vote, but talked to Williams about if there's a way to address concerns coming from the left and the right.
However, he explained that for 20 years politicians have not tried pursuing election reform that ensures voters feel safe, empowered and comfortable voting "because all we do is choke each other out in these campaigns."
"This is where we have gone wrong in this country. We have gotten to the place where we cannot sit down and get government for the people. That's what we need," Williams said. "I'm committed to try to take this moment, win or lose, try to take this moment and start pushing across this country some type of movement that gets us down in the same room to work together on these issues."
When asked if he would vote yes on Proposal 2 this fall, asking if utilities and contractors with more than $250,000 of government business should be banned from making political donations, Rogers said, "Still working through it."
