John Dale, ABATE of the Black Hills Member in Limbo - Jan 16, 2025

My mother had been suffering from cancer for about 20 years. She knew she was near the end of her life when she met Fritz Carter, a former member of the ABATE motorcycle advocacy group. She needed someone her age to help her with the painful process she was enduring, and they helped each other through old age. Mom was a holistic healer and had been trained in secret educational meetings of like minded people who believe food and natural medicine can be used to treat human disease. For over two decades, since she removed the first goose egg sized tumor from her breast herself, she used the methods she learned and kept her cancer at bay. She even started treating Fritz, who has tumors growing behind his ear where he'd hold his cell phone during marathon telephone calls with his brother Kenny. To hear her tell it, she removed tumors from his nose, face, and ear, and she encouraged Fritz to eat healthier foods to contribute to his quality of life.

I believe her knowledge helped Fritz.

As it happens, Fritz was good friends with ABATE founder Bryan "Wily" D. Freidel of Whitewood, South Dakota. Wily died in 2015. Fritz had ridden as an ABATE member for years and he saw in me a good opportunity for ABATE to recruit a motorcycle guy who was already active politically. "Why not", I thought. So, I paid my dues and started attending meetings. In the first couple of meetings, I observed and learned what the organization was about.

After a couple of meetings, I asked to present on a motorcycle safety issue. As it turns out the emission of electrical energy from under the motorcycle seat into the abdomen of the rider can cause some health problems according to many sources I looked at online. I was enthusiastically encouraged by the ABATE of the Black Hills Board to do my presentation at a regular meeting.

So, I prepared my presentation.

The presentation recommended ABATE and the Motorcycle Riders' Foundation (MRF) do a survey of motorcycle riders who were victims of cancer to see if there was a connection between cancers of the abdomen and the length of time that a rider spends riding the motorcycle. If a connection was found, I surmised, ABATE should lobby manufacturers to produce products to shield the rider from the emissions emanating from under the seat. Then, why not develop a standard moving forward that protected the rider from this potentially slow moving death. If a rider is suicidal I can't help that, but the least I could do was provide some informed consent.

It was a motorcycle safety issue right in-line with the ABATE mission. The way I figured, motorcycle riding is dangerous enough without this monster lurking under the seat. Testicular cancer is not the way I want to go-out and I'm willing to pay to modify my motorcycle to reduce the likelihood of ball or butt cancer. At the same time, I acknowledge that I can increase the torque, top speed, and maneuverability of my bike which can make it more dangerous, but I can control these things (I'm not so arrogant to think I can control cancer).

The ABATE of the Black Hills Board and membership voted to award me "Member of the Month" on the merits of my presentation. My being the "Member of the Month" was published in the August, 2022 ABATE of the Black Hills Newsletter.

A few months passed and I had some new information. I asked to post to the chapter's FaceBook page, have it written up in the newsletter, or have it emailed to our chapter's membership for discussion and comment. "Or, maybe I could do another presentation", I thought. Strangely, the ABATE of the Black Hills Board got really salty and chilled on the idea. My "Member of the Month" status had apparently tarnished.

This was the first time ABATE of the Black Hills censored my work. I was told to talk to ABATE of South Dakota, the parent organization whose bylaws supersede all of its chapters.

I can guess about why this occurred, but first please allow me to paint some back-drop for those new to the area.

Open your favorite mapping software and pull-up Whitewood, South Dakota. Look over how close together Whitewood, St. Onge, Sturgis, Newell, Nisland, Belle Fourche, and Spearfish are located. It's a very nice ride through beautiful country with lots of stops full of friendly hard working South Dakotans like my mom, who was one of 12 born and/or raised in Belle Fourche. It's a very small world out here in the Black Hills area, and everybody eventually seems to know everybody.

To hear the old timers tell it, ABATE of the Black Hills used to put on a real barn burner every year at Oak Park in Whitewood, South Dakota. There were kegs, music, and other forms of merriment. This "Whitewood Social" was in keeping with the Sturgis party theme for years, but something happened and the old timers are tight lipped about it.

Things changed.

The event took-on a much different character. The Whitewood Social became docile, timid, and tame. The event went from sex, booze, motorcycles, drugs, and making babies to potluck, hydration, scornful eyes on the beer drinkers, and long winded political speeches. The organization seemed to be peeling away from its out-front advocacy and projection of political power, to hollow speeches geared toward inaction on important motorcycle issues like self driving cars and electrical emissions. Stunningly, the organization, as I witnessed it, was giving-up on the legacy of the internal combustion engine and embracing the electric vehicle without regard for the dangerous involved in all its emissions, or the damage done to the legacy of motorcycling. As a newcomer, even I was offended by ABATE's rather feckless stance on the electric vehicle issue.

It was at the Whitewood Social in Whitewood that dysfunction within ABATE of the Black Hills came to a head.

Last year, we lost my mother to a botched surgery that sent her cancer wildfire. The surgeon misidentified constipation as a tumor and recommended emergency surgery. Essentially, my mother died prematurely because the surgeon felt the need to surgically remove a sideways fart. I assume her rapid subsequent decline was because her body was using its energy to heal the incisions and secondary infections from that surgery. Her immune system lost ground to the cancer growing in her lungs, liver, and breasts and she just couldn't hold-out anymore.

Mom died a terribly painful and sorrowful death with Fritz by her side.

The most difficult part of the process was respecting her wishes. When of sound mind she asked that my kids and I not be present at the end. She wanted her grandkids to remember her when she was healthy and vibrant. What made that most difficult was that, in the end something happened and she got terrified and called us to her. I was left with the traumatizing choice between honoring the wishes of my younger mother over the frantic requests of my elderly and dying mother. As you can imagine, this left me quite emotionally vulnerable. My mom and I were close.

She passed away in June, shortly before the ABATE Whitewood Social. I attended that event and asked to place a memorial fundraising container on the 50/50 table to help cover my mom's funeral costs. The ABATE of the Black Hills Board refused, saying "well that's ballsy." To this day I don't really understand the meaning behind that comment. Still processing mom's recent death, I left the event believing that the Black Hills board didn't have my back at all.

It got me thinking more deeply about how and why ABATE censored my motorcycle safety research.

I thought about ABATE critically.

I was reminded of how, sometime around 2015 I was informed that someone in Whitewood spread a rumor that I was distributing Heroine (untrue), and how this rumor destroyed a small technology business I had started with my cousins in Whitewood, home of ABATE founder Wily. It also reminded me of how, after that terrible lie about me was spread around, my cousins were recruited by a company that began installing next generation surveillance-capable LED light poles. It made me think about how my cousins moved to Nisland and Newell and why. It made me think about how their dad had recently died of a wildfire cancer.

I thought about how my attempts to use Robert's Rules of Order in ABATE meetings was ridiculed and discouraged.

I remember the movement of my emotions in the moments following the 2024 Whitewood Social. I went from a contributing and active member volunteering to having No Confidence in the board of ABATE of the Black Hills. I remember feeling hurt and abandoned by my chapter, and how woefully alone I felt now that my mom was gone.

After the issue with my mother's funeral at the Whitewood Social I reached-out to South Dakota ABATE for help and expressed that I had no confidence in our board.

I was in a very dark place, and I wanted answers.

In the next meeting, I asked the ABATE of the Black Hills Board to follow Robert's Rules of Order, and to ask the membership to declare Conflicts of Interest at the beginning of every meeting.

A conflict of interest would be, for example, if one or more members of ABATE boards have a vested interest in the technology installed by my cousins. It would be a conflict of interest because my work indicated that this technology presents a motorcycle safety issue, ABATE is supposed to advocate for motorcycle safety, and a financial benefit could affect the disposition of ABATE to stand against the technology that my cousins were installing.

When I asked them to follow the rules, the ABATE of the Black Hills Board became instantly combative at my request. A few days later, at an irregular meeting, the ABATE of the Black Hills Board voted to expel me from the chapter. The meeting did not appear to follow the Robert's Rules of Order as the Bylaws require.

I didn't cash the refund check they sent me.

I also recently submitted my insurance card; ABATE members get insurance for the family/survivors if they have an accident.

Now, I have more questions than answers, some of the most prominent in my mind being, "have they done this to other people?", "who started this terrible and irresponsible practice that has hurt my reputation?", "does ABATE of the Black Hills have a secret FaceBook group where chapter business is discussed outside regular meetings?", and "does the ABATE board have a conflict of interest with EV and wireless technology?"

I have asked to speak with the ABATE of South Dakota attorney. I have written about this experience and I hope every member of ABATE in the United States reads about it and offers help in answering these questions.

The title of this article does not mean to imply that this is an official newsletter of ABATE. Rather, this article is titled thusly since when browsing the ABATE of the Black Hills website, I noticed that the August 2022 newsletter was missing from the "Newsletters" section of the site.

That's the issue that mentions my recognition as "Member of the Month".

This story is ongoing and developing. If you have any information regarding this matter, please send it to jcdale@protonmail.com.

My membership status is unclear. Out of respect for the process, I have stopped attending ABATE meetings. When my membership status is restored (I am seeking legal action to clarify), it makes sense for ABATE of the Black Hills to cover my 2025 dues and apologize. I also think the ABATE of the Black Hills Board should be removed. Next, ABATE of the Black Hills should learn to follow Robert's Rules of Order, a core skill of any future board member. Perhaps in addition to motorcycle training, ABATE of South Dakota could provide some Rules training to its boards, because rules are there for a reason.

Lastly, the ABATE of the Black Hills Board should be compelled to disclose the real reasons for their actions, because the stated reasons are horse shit in my view.

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John Dale has the Master of Science in MIS with the Concentration in Entrepreneurship from The University of Arizona. He has worked in technology as a Software Engineer, Software Architect, inventor, User Interface Developer, but started out washing dishes at Denny's to save for college, after which he would answer his country's call for STEM talent. A former BMX Freestyle rider, John's talents on the BMX bicycle adapted perfectly to motorcycles, and he has toured Arizona, Texas, and South Dakota on motorcycles. He is civically engaged, communicating almost daily with South Dakota elected and appointed officials, law enforcement, and the good community minded folks of South Dakota.