“Don’t play the blame game.
The king controls every move on the board. Take responsibility instead of passing the
blame.”
Mr. Eugene Brown
Chess Master
Hotep,
Meeting Mr. Eugene Brown was an experience worth
chronicling. On July 9, 2014 the unit 3 death
row housing complex was directly influenced by a man who learned how to retool
his life through the principles of chess.
His life experiences inspired the movie, “Life of a King,“ in which he
is portrayed by Oscar Award winning actor, Cuba Gooding, Jr.
At 68 years of age, Mr. Brown has transformed himself from a
serial stick-up kid to an astounding citizen, teaching wayward children how to
defuse the cycle of intergenerational incarceration.
In these cosmic times of kids raising
themselves while being consumed by the ever-growing epidemic defined as, “Hood
Disease,” the men of – or returning to – society have a paternal obligation to
assist these youth who are experiencing ongoing traumas bred by neighborhood disasters
(shootings, stabbings, police brutality, etc.).
30% of those traumatized through this type of setting are experiencing
learning disabilities that may steer them toward a recidivistic lifestyle.
A man that once referred to his many arrests as an
“occupational hazard,” has proven to be a grandmaster of defeating the
subjugation of long-term imprisonment.
He founded the “Big Chair Chess Club” as a means to teach children the
game of chess through the recollection of their own life experiences.
“The definition of checkmate is not having a way out. You
have to see your end game from the opening,” he says while adjusting his
chess-patterned Kangol, and wearing wingtips to match.
Although I am a long way from being a wayward child, I was
deeply enlightened by Mr. Brown’s vigorous instruction pertaining to a King’s
duty on, and off the board. His motto
is, “Think before you move.”
I did a lot
of thinking while I was sitting in the back of the conference room, taking
notes for this particular article. I
made my move at the conclusion of his lecture.
Without hesitation, I told him about the W2TM blog and championed death
row’s latest collective literary effort, the Lethal Injection magazine.
I had no problem confessing to him, that I was not a member
of the death row chess club, and I do not spend any time playing chess on the
board. I also revealed that I understand
the 3 parts to a chess game:
Opening, middle and end. And I’m making moves off the board. At this point, his eyes widened and allowed
me to see the youthful chess master capable of doing 100 push-ups in one
stretch. “That’s what it’s all about!
Making moves off the board. You’ve got
some people sitting down, just pushing pieces.
They ain’t making no moves.”
He handed me his business card, then shook my hand with the
zeal of a go-getter. I was overwhelmed
by the significance of the name Leroy (The King), while I was leaving the
presence of this chess master. His words
will always ring through my thoughts whenever I make my next best move:
“When you know you’re a king, you should stand and walk like
a king.”
Point taken Mr. Brown. Your move.
Much Love,
MannofStat
Copyright © 2014 by Leroy Elwood Mann
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