December 16, 2016

When the young become the old

In the late 80's and 90's, there wasa group of young brothers that became members of lodges across the country. Along with their high top fades and hip hop sense of talking, they had deep and true respect for their fathers and grandfathers. They wanted to be part of an order and a legacy that was bigger than them.

These young military veteran and college-educated brothers saw a new perspective and a new way of doing things and wanted to impact the order in the best way possible.

They were met with immediate resistance. The older brothers liked their things the way it was even if it was rusty and crumbling. They chastised these brothers who wanted to do things like increase dues, increase education, set up building funds etc.

These young brothers stepped away and kept on travelling anyway. They formed think-tanks of their own with little or no mentorship. They honed their thought processes but without any input from the older ones, they were rough around the edges,  and for the ones who operated without supervision, they were out of control.

As life would have it, the old brothers became older, so did the young brothers. The young brothers now stepped into the shoes and brought in the fraternity to a modern world and made it more viable for the time. They were happy to fill in the shoes and the collars worn by the older brothers and were reveling in the shininess of their new found titles.

Then as it usually happens, new brothers showed up. The younger brothers of the present came with their new ideas of increasing the global reach of social media, increasing the use of technology, adapting the education to meet current trends etc.

Our younger brothers of the past became the older brothers they despised. They shot the younger brothers down, called them names, said they lacked the proper attention span to follow through with their ideas etc. Criticized their hairstyles, their manner of speech, their so-called experiences in education and careers etc.

Will the cycle continue?

March 11, 2016

Since everybody is on the soapbox...Story Time...

Once, in a certain PHA grand lodge in the southern region of USA, a man who was an irregular mason wanted to become a regular mason.

After 7+ years of being clandestine, he finally saw the light and there were many brothers who were happy for him and vowed to be there during his raising.

Then, his inept WM had a "problem" with the candidate: he was a Muslim. In the south, being a black Muslim is much of an anomaly compared to the east coast or mid-west. The befuddled WM did what every incompetent WM would do and seek answers from uninformed brethren read past masters. They all told him the same thing "don't"...he met a well-informed one who said go ahead...but with a 4 is to 1, he did something even worse: he talked to his deputy district grand master.

"Would he obligate to a bible?" the man asked.
"He said he may to the first 2 degrees, but he wants his third on a Koran." the WM replied
"I would not allow a Koran on an altar in my district."

So, the confused WM went back to the PM who told him to raise him and let him know the remarks of the District Deputy.

The PM was in shock, he had traveled all over the world and in his military experience seen the Koran on the altar of a few military PHA lodges that had members who were Muslims.

Since he had the Grand Master's ear, he decided to have a chat with him on the District Deputy's remarks. But instead, he was shocked on what transpired one evening in a lounge with the GM and the WM sitting with him.

"No Muslim will ever be a Mason in my jurisdiction as long as I am alive" GM said
"What?" PM replied in shock
"No Muslm. Absolutely not. Prince Hall is a Christian fraternity"
After he composed himself, the PM told him "Ok. That is fine, put it on paper."
"No."
"Well, if that is what you feel, then as Grand Master you have to put it in an edict."
"I won't..." GM replied, then turning to the WM he said "...you have heard what I said. If I hear that man is a mason, I will have you expelled for contumacy"

A couple of years later, the same GM slipped this opinion into a communication sent throughout the country. It was met with shock and  disgust. He retracted his statement and killed the plans he had later of declaring that jurisdiction as a Christian jurisdiction. The only hint left of that debacle is a couple of lines in his Grand Session address where he affirmed the Three Great Lights in his jurisdiction as The Holy Bible, the Square and the Compass.

No one argued with him and many in attendance including those who threw a fit agreed with him. You see, they were not angry with him for what he believed, they were angry that he was bold (read stupid) enough to put it on paper and jeopardize the reputation of the fraternity publicly as well as jeopardize the non-profit status of his Grand Lodge's foundation accounts.

As for my good friend and dear brother, he is still a Muslim, still a veteran, still a hardworking entrepreneur, still a dutiful family man, still a loyal and faithful husband. After the drama that was caused, he felt his spirit dampen. He left the fraternity and has moved on  still wishing in his heart that he was a mason.