Chapter 11

Her guard of solid African-Americans wearing faded fatigues implored her to continue with the battle. The others around the table simply listened and waited for a consensus. Her guard was prepared to confront the vast armies of the government until they themselves were killed in battle for a cause more righteous. Over the years Miriam led them into the belief that they should sacrifice their lives for the cause, and that war with the outer world would forever exist until her people conquered those above and formed what she called ‘a world more favorable.’ Her advisors wanted to continue, but Miriam convinced them that it was time to get along with society if only to prevent a bloodbath. She used her son’s reasoning, as though a part of her mind saved it and trapped it in a corner for decades only to be release it like a flood upon her followers. It took several hours in the underground situation room to convince them. They doubted her leadership as a result. Although they agreed not to overtake the apartment building, they decided, in the end, to remove her from her position of leadership.

On the next day, her advisors gave the order to reclaim all of the arms distributed to the tenants and store them in the armory under tight security. They continued to guard the many pounds of heroin for their clients if only to sustain revenue, feed the hungry, help the tenants with their rent, support political candidates, and indoctrinate the alienated with their underground way of life. But there would no longer be a war due to Miriam’s cancellation of it. Not a shot had been fired, and even though she so badly wanted to make a statement that would ultimately derail the machine and force the government to rethink how it dealt with the poor, she acquiesced and resigned honorably.

They chose a young African-American guardsman to replace her, and he vowed to concentrate on revenue instead of augmenting a final solution. That had been Miriam’s flaw during her leadership – she thought of war as the only answer after years of stockpiling weapons and safeguarding dope, and once the audience heard the young man speak, they were surprised how far astray Miriam had led them. It was time for a change, and the new leader spoke to the masses in the underground auditorium, packed to the hilt with those forever associated with the movement.

The new leader, wearing a black beret and fatigues, lauded Miriam for her leadership and for founding the underground bunker back in the 1970’s. He praised her work and above all her brilliance in organizing and empowering those who fell through the cracks, himself in particular who had been rescued from poverty and had lived in the underground bunker for most of his life. Simon thought the new leader a little too young until he arrived at the meat of his speech – a resounding call to learn from the past and not to relive it. It became the beauty of evolution, the transference of power from an older generation to a younger one, and ultimately it prevented a major conflict from taking place, which is the art of politics apart from its science. The young man was ready to lead after all, and after his speech the crowd accepted his vision of stability instead of giving in to their most dangerous and bellicose impulses.