I think we can all agree that Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s recent proposal to rename Stony Island Avenue for Bishop Arthur Brazier is a thinly disguised ploy to boost his standing with black voters, most of whom are upset over school closings and budget cuts.
So the family obviously has ties to City Hall.
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By the way, I urge you to read the 2011 book by Moore and Williams, The Almighty Black P Stone Nation. It’s a well-rounded, edgy, often funny, and ultimately tragic study of race, politics, and class in Chicago.
Fort, the leader of the Blackstone Rangers, was incarcerated when the federal funds first came in, says Williams, a professor of inner-city studies at Northeastern Illinois University. “But when he got out, he made the guys turn the checks over to him. He told them, ‘Ya’ll had your turn. But I’m gonna use this money to build the Nation.’”
It didn’t work. A few days later, a 17-year-old Stone walked into the TWO job-training center on 63rd and shot a Disciple in the face.
Fry wasn’t so fortunate. In 1971, he got a tip that he might be arrested by Chicago police, so he packed up his family and moved to Oregon. “I took this very seriously,” Fry told Moore and Williams. “If I ever got into their jail, I’d be dead in two seconds.” He passed away in 2011.
And Brazier?
