Can we talk about that whole...thing with the Triune Understanding from a few years back? In particular, is it true that the various protests and counterprotests about the Avengers lineup at the time including Mutants but no Black people were astroturfed by the TU?
In short, yes.
(photo from a Triune Understanding pamphlet of Jonathan Tremont, the group's founder and leader)
The Triune Understanding was a cult group founded by Jonathan Tremont. According to the group's own history, as a youth, Tremont grew up in the Indian Himalayas, the youngest of three brothers affected by some mysterious "Triad Energy". As the story goes, while Tremont's elder brothers were wise and strong, Tremont himself was charming, and when his brothers died from illness, Tremont absorbed their souls within himself, gaining their strength and wisdom.
Some time later, Harold Chandler, the adventurer known as 3-D Man, came through Tremont's village, and hired Tremont as a guide through the mountains. Upon learning that Chandler's powers were derived from this same Triad energy, Tremont struck him and took his powers as well.
Possessing this Triad Energy led Tremont to have a vision of a coming threat dubbed the "Triple-Evil", and convinced him to move to the United States and start the Triune Understanding in preparation to fight it. There, he began to gather followers and search for a successor to Chandler under the guise of maximizing human potential.
After a battle between the Avengers and the villains Lord Templar and Pagan (themselves plants by the Understanding), Tremont launched a smear campaign against the team, publicly blaming them for the destruction caused by the battle.
(partial screencap of a local news broadcast, featuring the protests outside Avengers Mansion staged by the Triune Understanding)
Alongside public media criticism, Tremont also orchestrated protests against the Avengers, criticizing supposed religious intolerance and racism while also highlighting their support of the so-called "mutant conspiracy."
This was all a psyop in order to get a Triune Understanding plant onto the team, Tremont's chosen successor for the 3-D Man powers, former Olympian Delroy Garrett Jr., alias Triathlon.
(fan art by @camleecomics of Delroy Garrett as Triathlon)
Imbued with three times the strength, speed, and stamina of a normal Olympic athlete, Triathlon was recruited into the Avengers as a response to the Triune's protests. A devout Triune himself, Triathlon had difficulty fitting into the team at first, but soon became a true-blue Avenger, proving himself on multiple occasions, including against Moses Magnum and the extradimensional alien conqueror called Starro.
The Triune's machinations came to a head in the midst of Kang the Conqueror's assault on Earth. While the Avengers were spread thin dealing with Kang and his lackeys, the Triple Evil appeared on the dark side of the moon in the form of a black pyramid.
The Avengers and Tremont boarded the pyramid, only for Tremont to attempt to seize power for himself rather than destroy the evil, intending to conquer the Earth after defeating Kang. Tremont perished helping the Avengers against Kang, and the Triune Understanding disbanded soon after, listless without their leader.
It's long been said that the Avengers' most dangerous foes are the ones they can't punch, and this certainly held true for the Triune Understanding. Jonathan Tremont was a master manipulator, and got his just deserts for his sins, but there's no denying that the Triune Understanding's self-help teachings helped a lot of people, nor that Triathlon (now 3-D Man) is proof that good can come out of what others intend for evil.





