When most people think about motorcycle clubs (MC’s), they think of gangs. And while there may be some motorcycle clubs that have less than stellar reputations, most motorcycle clubs are made up of good people who have a love for riding.
The Seattle Magic Wheels, Seattle’s first African American motorcycle club, is no exception to the rule as they are a family and community-oriented club that is all about brotherhood, sisterhood and riding.
Known in MC circles as “Ground Pounders” the Seattle Magic Wheels have a national reputation for putting many miles on their bikes and travelling as a unit cross-country to MC events.
According to Mary Hoover, an original member of the San Jose Magic Wheels (which is currently a non-active chapter) and a long-time member of the Seattle Magic Wheels, the Seattle chapter was founded under the motto, “We Are Family”, in 1977 by Raymond “Cookie Monster” Jennings, and is the fourth motorcycle club chapter founded under the Magic Wheels banner.
“When the Magic Wheels first got started it was just a lot of young fellas that liked to ride together and hang out,” said Hoover. “The club has always been based around family, doing things for the community, children, charity and their love for the road (riding motorcycles).”
Today, the Magic Wheels organization has a total of four active chapters – Seattle (The Mother Chapter), San Bernardino, Atlanta and Las Vegas — all of which, according to Hoover, “are active in the community and give back.”
Equal to their reputation for getting on the road, the Seattle Magic Wheels also have a long history of community service. Over the years, they have provided financial support to the Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic, provided scholarships for people looking to further their education, provided security at community-based events like the Black community festival, fed the homeless, held annual Easter egg hunts for kids, participated in toy drives, and have given away backpacks full of school supplies to kids to name a just a few of their community service projects.
According to James Ealy, an original member of the Seattle Magic Wheels, family and being an integral part of the community has been a point of emphasis of the organization since its founding.
“We are part of the community,” says Ealy. “If we had a barbecue set on Yesler we invited the whole neighborhood, and we would also take up money and go out and buy families dinner for Thanksgiving and Christmas.”
An integral part of family is the involvement of women, and the Magic Wheels have always included women in their club, as the club has been co-ed since its founding – a rarity in the MC world. Other MC’s have women members, but many of them don’t have women as full members. According to Hoover, women in the Seattle Magic Wheels are full voting members and have the letters MC on their patch.
“A lot of MC clubs don’t have women,” says Lorenzo Marr, president of the Seattle Magic Wheels. “We were one of the first to do it, and to have the women with the MC [patch] on their back.”
“When they started in1977, the Magic Wheels had as many women members as they did men,” says Hoover. “If I ride to Texas right alongside of you and as hard as you, [as a woman] why can’t I be an MC?”
Ealy says the inclusion of women was a no-brainer.
“At that time, we said we were a family-oriented motorcycle club, and we didn’t discriminate against women at all,” says Ealy. “We weren’t going out to be gangsters or crooks, so why couldn’t they be involved.”
According to Ealy, the inclusion of women as full members in the club helped them prioritize family-friendly outings and events.
“When you have women involved, children also need to be included,” says Ealy. “Sure we went to MC sets, but we also had a lot of family friendly events as well.”
While members don’t claim to be angels, they are quick to point out that they are not a gang. In fact, most members are career people, who have many connections with the community outside of the organization.
“We’re a group of hardworking people who have riding in common,” says Ealy. “99.9 percent of [our members] always had a regular job. We’re well-known in the community and keep a respectable image about ourselves.”
Ealy speaks with great pride when he talks about the Magic Wheels connection to the community. He is especially proud of the impact that the organization has had on kids over the years, many of whom are now members of the organization and are committed to carrying on the tradition of serving the community.
Marr remembers seeing the Magic Wheels do things in the community when he was a kid. A member since 2005, Marr likes the balance between family, fun and service that the club has to offer. According to Marr, every Sunday is family day when club members get together with friends and family to hang out, watch television, movies and barbecue.
Outside of their social activities, Marr is quick to point out that the “Wheels” are very active in the community. Over the last few years, the “Wheels” have held food drives, been involved in the Seattle Medium/KRIZ toy drive, and even donated money to help the Cleveland High School Girls Basketball team with travel expenses to a tournament.
Recently the organization adopted nine families from South Shore Middle School for Christmas and provided the families with toys and clothes.
“They did an awesome job,” says Acquinetta Williams, a family support specialist at the school.
“We feel honored that they asked us if there were families that they could adopt,” said Williams. “I had families that were asking me for assistance, so I already had a list of families that were in need.”
Club members, along with a motorcycle riding Santa, showed up at the families homes with gifts in hand, and helped lift the spirits the families and their neighbors.
“The kids were so excited to see all of the motorcycles show up,” said Williams. “They haven’t stopped talking about having the guys show up with gifts.”
“We’re getting more active in the community,” says Marr. “Every year we are finding more things to do. The more that we see we are having a positive impact on the kids’ lives the more we want to do.”
According to Marr, the organization has many programs that they like to support, so they try to split them up from year to year. And while the members of the organization continue to follow their passion to ride, they also continue to build a foundation of support for the community that will have a positive impact on the next generation of riders and non-riders alike.
“It [serving the community] means a great deal to us,” said Marr. “We are trying to show everybody that we are in the community, we want to ride, have fun and give back.”
