Marion Brothers

Marion Brothers

Tuesday, May 23, 2017


RE: Demoted officer: Fort Worth chief’s allegations ‘grossly inaccurate’



From the Perception of a Marion Brother:
 

There is a reason the Marion Brothers marched to the beat of a different drummer in the 1970s. We realized that inferior leadership make tactical errors, such as the one that led to the demotion of two African-American officer who were members of the command staff.

 

First: Who would have foreseen when FWPD Chief Joel Fitzgerald sent Deputy Chief Abdul Pridgen and Deputy Chief Vance Keyes to dig into the situation of Ms. Craig and her daughters’ arrest that these two trusted officers would wound up being put into the hot seat? Personally, I would have trusted no one else more than these two high-ranking African-American members of the FWPD Command Staff, due to the racist allegations against Officer William Martin.

 

But who could have foreseen their demotion? And who would have even asked them to jeopardize their jobs?

 

One thing I learned, as a Marion Brother, was to study a situation before reacting to it--- hence the difference between reactionaries and revolutionaries. There are always more interacting opposing forces in a contradiction. And if we do not correctly assess those forces, we will make mistakes in practice on how best to deal with those forces. (For example, while we were studying theoretical physics, we come to understand a postulate in the Theory of Chaos, that there is Order in Disorder. In understanding that, we could find order in the midst of natural chaotic forces inside a riot to make it where we could gain control over the situation. That was the key: Gaining Control and Mastery over Competing Forces).

 

On the other hand, lack of foresight is the hallmark of "Inferior Leadership". Most people have no idea about gaining control of a any situation, let alone a volatile situation. At best and at most, they do the same thing, the same way, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did half a century ago--- march and pray--- and expect a different result. Moreover, those who scream the loudest and protest the hardest have never been to jail. Ms. Craig and her daughters have. The rest of you need to show me your scars.

 

This is the reason Eddie Griffin told the protest organizers that “We got this”, and why I asked them to “Stand Down”. I felt that nobody understood Fort Worth better than I, and how to resolve problems with the police department. Inferior Leadership can only shake their fist at city hall and chant, “Burn it down.” And then they criticize me for not being militant enough.

 

I have heard it before, from Sandra Bland’s sorority sister: “Burn it down”. My advice to the youth in Ferguson, MO after the death of Mike Brown: “You are not militant enough.” And those who were too militant got entrapped in a police-crafted terrorist sing operation, and some arrested for their angry inflammatory rhetoric. This is why I don’t listen to Inferior Leadership. They are too inexperienced not to inflict wounds upon themselves and their followers. (Look at the Willie Lynch effect in the African-American community over this controversy, as destructive as playing Russian Roulette)

 

When people sent their problems to us, the Marion Brothers, we took ownership. We took control of the problem. The buck stopped with us. In taking control of the problem, we took responsibility for its solution. When you take control of the problem and responsibility for its solution, there is no scapegoating. Like the time when activists on the streets wrote to The Brothers in prison about the problem of elderly people buying and eating dog food during the 1970s, because it was cheaper. We did not complain to the government. We drafted a Community Survival Plan, with the concept of Block Gardens, to feed the elderly.

 

We never cried about one problem. While others cried about Police Brutality, the Marion Brothers declared it nothing more than a fair fight. And getting killed in the process was part of the risk that comes with the price of admission. Otherwise, we refused to be labeled a victim, and always found a way to win the fight. We understood the Law of Forces and the Theory of Chaos and found Order within Disorder, to shift the Balance of Power to our favor. (And some of them don't even know what I'm talking about)

 

To my friends who protest the loudest, but have never been to jail, there is no such thing as Unfair and Police Brutality. You either survive it or you don’t. If you survive it, then it was a Fair Fight. I can only empathize with the more delicate and fragile species, and those who have been publicly humiliated like Ms. Craig and her daughters. But don’t try to tell Eddie Griffin about pain. Whatever it is, it doesn’t hurt me anymore.
 
I was the man they tried to freeze to death, and nothing hurt like cold. I can tell you when I heard the crunch of frost forming on my eyeballs, one blink from freezing to death with my eyes wide open in a strip cell. They pushed my threshold for pain to the point where nothing hurt me again, not even a wounded pride. I can take a punch and turn the other cheek, because I became immune to pain. NO, I will not sob for myself, nor confess my pain to anyone but God in heaven.

 

So, give me a break. Disagree with your peers. Don’t disagree with a season warrior who earned the stripes of a 5-star general.

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