![]() “There’s ample evidence that, for the Flenory brothers, spirituality and kinship worked hand in hand with running a tight organization.” In talking with Meech through the barriers of a prison, Huggins mentions that one of the biggest things he learned was that Charles Flenory was a real man. That kind of care, whether it’s read as genuine or not, endeared the family to Meech and Terry’s causes. In that conversation, he mentions apologizing to the dealer’s mother, a key detail that so embodies Meech’s leadership style that he got away with it pretty easily. In her book on the rise and fall of the BMF clan, South editor at ProPublica and former Atlanta crime reporter Mara Shalhoup recalls a moment where, after a death in the family, a mid-level dealer masqueraded as Meech while trying to calm down a fellow family member. ![]() There’s ample evidence that, for the Flenory brothers, spirituality and kinship worked hand in hand with running a tight organization. The family they were brought up in gave them the values they instilled in the family they brought up in the street.” I want to tell this story as authentically as I possibly can but also tell a family story. I heard so much and it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ I’m not trying to make this a salacious show. “What I had to do was forget the shit I’d heard around me coming up. To shed light on their origin, their history, Huggins and his crew of talented artists needed to learn what made these men who they are. The Flenorys frequenting night haunts like Cheeks, The Shelter or City Club with gleaming lights reflecting off Lil Meech’s designer shades, his ankle-length fur coat fluttering in the night wind, strengthened their mythologies without the two brothers ever having to mention their drug affiliations. Veneration for the city bleeds through BMF. ![]() My mother wouldn’t buy them for me,” he says with a down-home chuckle. “A lot of the fashion they wore, I want to wear. No doubt the dope boys were drippy-flash and Black exuberance have been fundamental to local Detroit culture from the Great Migration days, so it’s no surprise Huggins found himself marveling at how men like the Flenorys carried themselves. I used to play basketball growing up so you know I was there to watch the basketball players but the dope boys would be there betting on games. One of the places they hung out most was this gym called Saint Cecilia’s. Not only are Huggins and the Flenory brothers close in age but “culturally we connect, culturally we speak the same language. In retelling and dramatizing the story of the Black Mafia Family, Huggins’ experience within the city was paramount in gaining and sustaining the trust of Meech-who is due to be released from an Oregon prison in 2023-and Terry.
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