BMF (Black Mafia Family) is the hottest show on television right now centered around the Flenory brothers; Meech, Tee, and their multi-million dollar drug organization. But we’ve spent enough time talking about Meech and Terry since the series premiered. Meech and Terry’s father Charles Flenory is a noteworthy character on the show portrayed by Russell Hornsby. Hornsby has been featured in series like Iron Mike on Hulu and he has a recurring role on Netflix’s Lost In Space. Charles Flenory has garnered a lot of attention because of his stubborn and super aggressive demeanor especially when dealing with his son Demetrius. Fans have a love and hate relationship with Charles. We love the fact that he’s passionate about keeping his sons off the street so that they don’t become another statistic. The presence of a male figure could have saved millions of young African-American men who have fallen victim to the streets. We hate that Charles has an ego the size of a beach ball because it makes him so stubborn that it’s impossible to reason with him.
Who Is Charles Flenory?
The real Charles Flenory was born in 1948 in Cleveland Ohio. He went on to marry Lucille Flenory and together they had three children, Terry, Demetrius, and Nicole. Although the show doesn’t thoroughly depict this side of the family patriarch, he was a musician with roots in the music industry. Charles played the guitar for Keith Dominions House of God in Detroit and he wrote the hit song Jump For Joy by the Campbell brothers in 1997. He went on to start his own gospel music label called Gospel Sounds Record Corporation. As a gospel artist, Charles was heavily entrenched in the church, and on the actual show, we do get to see that the Flenorys are a god-fearing family. The family is close to Pastor Swift and they rely on his support and guidance. When Terry was shot Pastor Swift was at the hospital tending to the family. When they found out that they were at risk of losing their house Pastor Swift came to the residence to pray with them. Perhaps one of the main reasons why Charles and Lucille were so hurt to find out that Meech and Terry were selling drugs was because of the moral compass they had instilled in them from raising them in a religious household and the strong ties that their family had with Pastor Swift.
Charles Represents The Average Black Family Man In America
As a struggling musician, Charles Flenory couldn’t adequately provide for his family. That’s why his wife Lucille took a job at Wendy’s to help him support the family. Her earnings still weren’t enough and they fell behind on their mortgage payments. In the first episode, we see Charles dressed in a work uniform, he has finally landed a “real job” and promises his wife that he’s going to handle the mortgage situation. But it doesn’t seem like his wife has much faith in him. Some may look down on Charle’s inability to provide a better life for his family. The truth is that the Flenorys were just another black family that had been let down by America. Charles represented the age-old adage, “If you work hard in America you will be successful”. Yet, the success never came. Meech and Terry were tired of seeing their family struggle, they were tired of living in poverty and they had witnessed from their father’s experience that hard work doesn’t mean you’ll make it in America especially when you are a person of color. The boys were ready to take their piece of the American dream instead of waiting for it to come to them.
Charles Relationship With His Boys
We can see in the very first episode that Charles has a complicated relationship with Meech his oldest son. Watching Charles interact with Demetrius’s oldest son is painful. He doesn’t miss an opportunity to take shots at Meech and blatantly shows his disdain. Charles doesn’t realize that all Meech really wants to do is to help the family. That’s why Meech goes down to the bank and pays off the whole mortgage without the permission of his parents. Terry on the other hand is Charles’s pride and joy because he is the only son that he has that’s on the right path. At least that’s what he thinks. When Charles finds out that Terry is selling drugs with Meech he is livid. He has every right to be. After all, losing a kid to the streets in minority communities is a parent’s worse nightmare. Charles doesn’t need to agree with or accept his boy’s illegal activity but it’s time that he truly opens his eyes and maybe then he’ll understand why Meech and Terry made the choices they did. Charles needs to realize that times have changed, that drugs, gangs and other types of illicit activity are the reality of America especially in the hoods of Detroit.
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