Thanks to the successful Grapski lawsuit against Florida Blue Key, we were able to learn a great deal about what was otherwise a well kept secret at UF. But one club that's been able to really keep a lid on its business has been 'the Fist', a highly secretive group inner circle of National Pan Hellenic Fraternity leaders, one per Greek letter organization.
In 2004 I was given rare permission to speak at NPH chapter meetings, largely because of the support of the then presiding officer, who I believe to have been Andre Samuels. There is no way my fraternity or any other fraternity in any of the three council would have allowed an outsider into chapter, much less to speak to the brothers -- this is not only a serious break with Greek tradition but the sanctity of the Fraternity's Ritual Rite is at great risk. Several of the NPH fraternities kept younger brothers outside the doors (as most met at the Reitz Union), the sororities would go even further in blocking off entire hallways during initiation(s) and our more secretive ritual (the pitfalls of not operating from a house). Our own fraternity conducted chapter in a basement room, reached either by passing two double latched doors or secret entry. In all the times FIJI had been broken into, never did anyone get near our CR.
I know very little about 'the Fist' and have bit my tongue for years, mainly out of respect for Jamal and the great work the African American community allowed for in 2004-2005, but what Paul Drayton is doing, is very much over a lot of people's heads. Five years after Jamal, same position, with largely the same backing, Drayton has trumped the Student Body President, the Student Senate, and gone further, by creating a proxy out of thin air. Whereas Jamal played the game, Drayton seems poised to be assertive and bold and some of my readers believe there was never any doubt in him taking the job.
There's no use commenting to the contrary, I speak with knowledge from one of the highest members of Florida Blue Key confirming that the Sam Green Block was in fact carried out to prevent the African American community from securing the post Drayton currently holds for Green under a Weiss candidacy. Drayton will be the candidate of the Machine for Student Body President, he will not make the mistake Jamal made, in leaving, his rivals will be the ones forced to leave. It will be a very interesting time, with Barack Obama having defeated John McCain and the pale-faced fraternity boys in polo shirts and bubbly blonde sorority girls at their side, wanting to be part of their very own black power ticket and I guarantee you, 'the Fist' will wrestle a mainstream nomination, much like it has finagled System brass to sit idly by as Drayton turns his back on them and does as he pleases, knowing full well that much like Keys wouldn't ever vote with the GDI's, they'd equally never dare cross the you-know-who's.
It's certainly going to be an interesting race come next Spring.
Past leaders of 'the Fist,' I believe, include Andre Samuels (2003-2004, 2005), Will Atkins (2005-2006), Sam Green (2006-2007), and Paul Drayton (2008 - ). Interestingly, I do know that the club bars non-Greeks from membership, but will elect a non-Greek to preside during rare instances. Another piece to the puzzle is that many of the alleged presiding officers have been members of an organization known as Progressive Black Men. I am not sure if Drayton is officially affiliated with them, however.
22 comments:
Fist was a rumor during access, get over it.
you right about Dre but none of those others you mentioned.
Everyone knows that when it comes to "power" only Naaaaadira has the remote control to press "pause pause pause!"
It would seem you drop the 'Grapski' name into as much as you can. Does it help in your readership. Numbers are good but content is better.
This is the biggest BS I have ever read.
This really would explain why Atkins nearly robbed Hoffman or R&E Chair in '04.
this is too amusing! i need you to find a better way to allocate your time amongst things that matter! do not speak on things that you do not have concrete evidence of and does not concern you...how is this pertinent to anything...i mean anything at all!
who cares!!!!
White Gold was a member, so it's not an black thing, it's just a NPHC group, get over it.
It's not BS. Everyone at UF blasts FBK and rightfully so, I think any "secret" club that has a large stake in Student Government should be outed and publicly observed.
I don't know their secret handshake(s), calls, I don't know about members or even about heads, but I do know that 'the Fist' existed in 2004 and I strongly believe Paul Drayton was referring to them, not FBK, as the 'influential people he spoke with.'
Let me ask you this....back not so long about when FBK did not allow African Americans to join...what exactly did the Greek, elitist African American Andre Samuels' of the day do? Do you think the white man invented networking? Gimme a break.
I don't find it so hard to believe that something like 'the Fist' existed and/or exists. I think many of you that sell short the very top level African Americans of putting something like this together are just a bunch of closet bigots, people that still can't believe Jamal beat the System, almost a half decade later.
Who's White Gold? I'm thinking John Printy, but not sure.
Duque-
Please get a life. Paul could have been talking about his fraternity brothers or his friends. I think you read a little too much into it.
The way you talk about Andre and company is as if they could walk on water. I feel like you have been disconnected way to long to speculate on STUDENT POLITICS. I would think you would have realized that UF politics is BS and we have the real world that needs some great leaders at this time.
Since when are fraternity brothers influential people to talk to pertaining to your duties to the 50,000+ Gator Nation? and since when do members of the Executive Branch get elected and then ditch their job for internships? And since when did Executive officers get the right to name proxies to serve in lieu of themselves.
No Sir, sounds like you perhaps want this blog to cow tow to the Greek special interests like the Alligator has. I don't think so, whether it's FBK or the Fist secret societies and good ole boy networks need to go. Yeah it's 2008, so why are you still defending a way of doings things more arcane than feudalism?
Why now reveal the fist?...Is disgracing Jamal name the way to go in honoring his legacy?...You are basically saying that without this secret society he won't have won...and election results say different...are you scared Paul will re-access?
I think it is hilarious how you make this accusations and include yourself in the drama.Why state that you were a part of an organization's action but call them out. What did you do to help the fist? If you know so much about the fist why can you only assume that it exist. Do you not have concrete evidence?
Jamal was MY student body president, I worked my ass off that election and I don't think you'll find too many people from the Yellow & Blue to say otherwise. But it wasn't just Christian Duque, it was all of us, we all worked and loved Jamal, the Party, and the message to the core, but the Revolution Betrayed.
Jamal made his rise from a senator to a treasurer thanks in large part, in my humble opinion, to the networking powerhouses of 'FBK' and 'the Fist.'
I'll give you an example. Right after being elected, Jamal was President-elect and whispered in my ear that he wanted me to rise against a motion being pushed by Scott (then still Senate President).
I don't know why, but my eyes met Andre's and he signaled me to please come over and I did. Andre asked me what Jamal had said and I told him, I even remember saying that while I didn't entirely agree with Jamal, I'd object in his name. Andre told me not to, he told me point blank to disregard Jamal's request -- that wasn't the last time, either.
Jamal may have been president on paper, but Andre was the Godfather, in every sense of the word. At the time people talked more freely than today, if you weren't there you just don't realize how close us GDI's got with the NPHC Greeks, there were many traditional barriers dropped and many people talked more freely than they should have.
Jamal did plenty on his own dime, going to dozens of club meetings, shaking hands, making friends, being a great guy, but the guy was a horrible public speaker and was not match for either Scott or Travis -- I mean let's be fair here.
We all know how it broke down. Jamal had the GDI + 25% of Ignite/FBK [possibly 30%] + the NPHC (which was NEVER even courted and this I attribute to 'the Fist').
There has also been a market effort by the Kappas, I believe, to retain control of 'the Fist' and a noticeable, comfortable edge over the Alphas. On almost every campus of the United States, the Kappas play second fiddle (or 'bitch') to the Alphas - the fraternity of Martin Luther King Jr.
At UF the Kappas keep the Alphas down and we've seen this from Jamal '03 to Drayton '08, five years separate two Kappa's, a fraternity of under 10 active guys, holding SG's #2 post and let's not forget that in those five years Andre Samuels was a Student Senate President Pro Tempore as well.
For all the hoopla over the ATO's and the Delts, these guys have houses and rosters with over 150 active men STRONG, yet they can't touch the Kappas (no house, shy of a dozen, and generating more power than GRU).
Who's being naive here?
But wait a second, I thought that you said that Sam was a Fist leader? he wasn't a Kappa, so how can you make a direct link from Jamal to Drayton and run it straight through the Kappas? That is like saying that Clay Sweger and Kevin Reilly show that Theta Chi has always dominated FBK.
From what little I've been able to piece together, the Kappas have largely been in the driver seat of 'the Fist,' using weaker fraternities like the Omegas & Phi Beta Sigma to neutralize the Alphas (Jamal's father, ironically, and his whole family were Alphas).
But no, the Kappas aren't the only ones to hold the presiding seat of the secret circle. In fact that head spot is not the key spot anyway, remember, 'the Fist' allegedly will allow even a non-Greek to hold that post. The key is to have a seat.
The Iotas, one of the last NPHC fraternities are blocked from the circle. If you want to talk real history, the Iotas (the fraternity of Kervin Montfort) get little next to no respect by older fraternities in the Nat'l Pan Hellenic Council.
Kappas
Alphas
Omegas
PBS
PBM
These are the organizations I believe make up 'the Fist.'
Your assertions defy any real logic based on what has actually happened. For the last 3 years the black community has been run by females, basically the Deltas and then the AKAs. How you draw conclusions that this is a "fraternal" things is beyond me.
And all of the people in present SG leadership with the exception of Drayton are non-greek.
And if I am not mistaken the last African American officer in FBK was non-greek, too.
I believe the black community came up with this to keep people from guessing how they operate.
Nothing they have done resembles anything like you have described. And if they are as clever as Christian claims then it has worked because it's insane to actually have Will Atkins as a FIST leader as a sophomore.
What information would he know?
And now that Paul is in NYC, who is running their society?
Guys...if 'the Fist' actually exists as I believe it does, you can't ask me how it's possible for the group to operate with Drayton in NYC or with Atkins having been a sophomore.
This isn't a club, like FBK is isn't a club, where you 'earn your keep' or where seniority is a deciding factor. And for goodness sake, this isn't a club that holds weekly meetings, lol.
'The Fist,' I believe may have met once in the last five years, if even that. These societies, the real secret ones, don't hold meetings and they don't email out minutes.
I have dossiers that I've been working on for THREE years, when you you want to ask me a real question of substance, please do so, but up until now, all the comments in this thread have been more you guys trying to poke to see what I know.
Not very clever at all. I believe Drayton is a member of 'the Fist,' but whether he's head or not, I have no clue. The presiding officer is not the power behind the group, you guys need to quit thinking of secret societies as being so contemporary. These are major power alliances that meet and speak to each other in these roles as rarely as possible.
Had Jamal done grad work or run for re-election, he would have decimated Joe Goldberg. You have no idea how power 'the Fist' was in 2004-2005.
Something happened days before the Christmas break that Dennis did to rub the honorary the wrong way and I happen to know what it was. If I was full of it...
Your theory has no legs to stand on. Of the 5 groups mentioned, there are no Omegas or Progressive Black Men doing anything on campus.dm
PBM was always somewhat of a throw-off and both the Omegas & PBS are leverage for the stronger Kappas and Alphas, it's always been this way.
Glad to educate you whenever I can.
This is a highly entertaining soap opera-conspiracy theory deal, how do you decide the fate of the AA community and only manage to meet once in the last five years! If all of this is just a series of systems what does it matter, and how does this affect me. I really could care less just as long as things are run in a way that i will benefit from.
It is highly discrediting to say that the only reason someone got a position is due to unnamed factions , and it just seems as though the person is no longer a qualified candidate, personally i don't think that this is fair. Ha you discredit Jamal as well and he was "your president".
What do you know about any preemptive measures that were taken besides the appointment of assistant treasurers and whatnot, you do not work in the finance office and oversee daily operations so who are you to say that some one is or isn't doing there job. I honestly feel bad for Drayton because all you care to do is bring him to the stake and let him burn as though this is some sort of witch hunt, do you even care about the quality of his performance, and who's to say the important people he talked to weren't indeed FAMILY and FRIENDS. normal people would consider these persons important, and moving for a summer is a very important life decision.
Just to humor your suspicions even if "the Fist" is given credit for him holding office, what does that have to do with how he does his job once "given" the position? I think you need to consider the motives behind your attempts to bring things to the forefront, especially when you cannot substantially support your claims (and this means beyond eye-contact, secret handshakes, and unspoken ques).
O yea, I also find you hierarchy funny, I mean really..who the hell is PBM and what do they have to do with anything??
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