Quote:
Originally posted by LionOfJudah
There are some dangerous and "unorthodox" actions in all of our BGLOs that could cause harm to members, perspective members, and in turn the community (i.e. hazing, binge drinking, unprotected sex, etc.). Now with that said, would you feel comfortable with your founders being put on trial and held accountable for the actions of some of the members of the organizations. I am sure we all know that it was not the intention of the founders of our orgs to have these types of activities be associated with our "great gatherings of men and women".
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Before I begin, let me state for the record, I am not well versed/read on the totality of Stanley "Tookie" Williams, the 4 murders, etc.
My response is related the question/scenario posed above.
I contend that all of the NPHC organizations were founded with a purpose of uplift that promoted brother/sisterhood, scholarship, and service.
I just read
THIS.
Taken from the above link:
The Beginning
In the spring of 1971, when Tookie was 17, he was in a very different situation. He was a high school student from South Central Los Angeles. He had a fearsome reputation as a fighter and as a "general" of South Central's west side. And, around that time, Tookie, along with Raymond Lee Washington, created what would one day be a super-gang, the Crips.
Back in the day when Tookie and Raymond founded the Crips, many of the young people of South Central Los Angeles were involved with small gangs. Those gang members roamed South Central taking property from anyone who feared them, including women and children. To protect the community, Tookie and Raymond organized the Crips.
Growth
By 1979, the Crips had grown from a small Los Angeles gang to an organization with membership spread across the State of California. By this time, Crips had also become just like the gang members they had once sought to protect themselves from -- Crips had become gangbangers who terrorized their own neighborhoods.
Soon the Crips lost both their leaders: in 1979, Raymond was murdered by a rival gang member, and, that same year, Tookie was arrested. He was charged with murdering four people. In 1981, Tookie was convicted of those crimes and placed on death row.
Now I know that it states that The Crips were created to protect the community, but this isn't Fat Albert we're talking about.
To answer the question, you posed:
IF any 1 of my 22 founders was still alive today and
IF a prospective member of the organization was killed due to an act of hazing and
IF the court, judicial system attempted to indict the founder(s) for this act that was not committed by the founder herself, but by a member of the organization, then
NO, the founder is not responsible for the death of the member.
I know some folks attempt to equate fraternities and sororities to gangs, but it is an unfair comparison. By and large, our organizations are marinated in positivity.
Tookie was known as a fighter. When the Crips were born to protect, I doubt that the protection was just verbal, "Please leave our neighborhood alone" and gave them books to read.
The word gang carries a negative connotation. So, unfortunately, Tookie Williams, while his life has become positive while incarcerated, did some negative things (not necessarily the 4 murders) but his bad, unfortunately, is overshadowing the good he has done while incarcerated.
Just my thoughts.