Neighbors in the area have mixed views of the longtime institution. Tracy Smith, an area resident for 30 years, says she never had a problem with the club. Smith, drinking a can of malt liquor behind the 108 Motel kitty-corner to the Chosen Few's HQ, says the club's free parties were controlled, involving barbecues and blues music. "I only went on Sundays," she says.
But William Harold, a seven-year resident, says, "I don't deal with them, period." He says the club got more dangerous four years ago, and now, "I don't like going down that way. It ain't safe."
ILLUSTRATION BY FRED NOLAND
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Resident Marques Windom, a member of a local school's safety patrol, says he sees the Chosen Few ride through every so often, but since the arrests, members have been lying low. Before the law cracked down, the club hosted frequent parties, and shady characters entered and left every day.
Wilson, the former heavyweight boxer, says the atmosphere at the clubhouse had already changed when he returned to the Broadway Boxing Gym in the early 2000s.
"I looked out the window and was, like, 'Wow!' " the stocky heavyweight recalls. The Chosen Few members had become younger and more diverse, and "some of the older guys stopped wearing their vests."
To join the Chosen Few in his day, he recalls, applicants had to go through a "prospect" program, with potential members assigned duties, such as cleaning the clubhouse and running errands. No one younger than 25 was allowed, and the club encouraged the local youth to educate themselves and better the community.
But, "The new generation has no laws," he says. "No O.G. [original gangster] presence. It's every man for himself."
