Fergie Chambers
Fergie Chambers | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Chambers in 2023 | |
| Born | James Chambers 1985 (age 39–40) |
| Other names | Fergie |
| Occupation | Political activist |
| Years active | 2023–present |
| Organization | Berkshire Communists |
| Title | General Secretary |
| Spouses | |
| Father | James Cox Chambers |
| Family |
|
James Cox Chambers Jr. (born c. 1985),[1] also known as Fergie Chambers, is an American communist political activist, philanthropist and former heir in the Cox family, which derives its wealth from Cox Enterprises.[2]
Early life
Chambers is the son of James Cox Chambers and Lauren Hamilton; the Cox family controls Cox Enterprises.[3] He spent his childhood in Brooklyn, New York, primarily with his mother, as his parents divorced when he was two years old.[3][4][2] After attending Saint Ann's School, Chambers was admitted to Bard College, but dropped out before completing a degree.[4] He subsequently worked for a year at Manheim Auctions, a company owned by his family, as a management trainer.[4][3] Chambers owned a portion of Cox Enterprises until divesting from the company in 2023, resulting in a payout estimated by Rolling Stone of at least $250 million.[5]
Around age 12, Chambers was introduced to Marxist literature by a teacher, including Howard Zinn’s A People's History of the United States, something which made a lasting impression, although by his account, his focus on political activism has ebbed and flowed throughout his life.[2][5]
By the time he was a teenager, Chambers recalls having severe mental health issues, being committed to psychiatric institutions, becoming depressed and suicidal, and turning towards drugs.[5]
Career and activism
Chambers has described himself as a communist and has provided funding for leftist causes, including through paying legal fees for others.[1] In Massachusetts, he founded a group called the Berkshire Communists, which identifies itself as a "revolutionary Marxist-Leninist collective"; his title is general secretary.[6][7][3] He also founded the Babochki Collective (Babochki is Russian for "Butterfly"), who served as his ideological advisers.[5] Amongst his entourage were Calla Walsh and Paige Belanger of Unity of Fields.[5] In November 2023, Chambers paid $50,000 to bail out Walsh, Belanger and Sophie Rose after they attacked an Elbit Systems office in Merrimack, New Hampshire.[5]
In the early 2010s, Chambers opened a gym called the Berkshire People's Gym in Alford, Massachusetts, which was closed to "landlords and capitalists", among others.[7] His property purchases in the Berkshires have been described as forming a "commune" by Mother Jones.[4] In January 2024, the Berkshire People's Gym was shut down when Alford town officials enforced a cease‑and‑desist over zoning violations, finding that the gym had been operating in a barn permitted solely for agricultural storage.
Chambers has owned and operated other gyms, including a CrossFit gym in Alpharetta, Georgia. In 2012, an employee of Chambers' was Marjorie Taylor Greene. In 2020, Chambers claimed to have witnessed Greene conduct multiple extramarital affairs while employed by him.[8]
In 2017, Chambers participated in the Dakota Access Pipeline protests.[5] Chambers also ran a commune in Madison, Georgia on land he owned there for a period in the late 2010s, in which Chambers provided a stipend of $2,000 a month for members. Many members had been Standing Rock protesters. Many former commune members recall in a 2024 interview with Rolling Stone that little happened on the commune aside from rampant psychedelic usage[5] and that Chambers pressured commune members to take part in polyamory/free love relationships.[5] The Georgia commune was closed in early 2019 and the property sold by Chambers in 2020.[5]
In Georgia, Chambers has provided financial support for members of the Stop Cop City movement.[4][9]
Views
In 2020, Chambers described his political ideology as "somewhere between an eco-anarchist and a Marxist-Leninist", [8] while in 2024 he simply stated his ideology was a Marxist-Leninist and praised Stalin and Mao.[5]
Chambers is a vocal supporter of Hamas; he described the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel as "a moment of hope and inspiration".[4][7] Chambers denies that rapes occurred during the October 7 Attacks.[5] Chambers previously told Mother Jones in an interview that he believes "the most important thing for the prosperity of humanity is the destruction of the US", [4] while he told Los Angeles magazine "I chant death to America every day. Imperialism is the death of humanity".[1]
Chambers has also been supportive of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and visited Russian-occupied Donbas.[2] Chambers has referred to Vladimir Putin as a "great man".[5]
Personal life
Chambers was first married to a Russian woman, Anya Vostrova, whom he met at Bard. They lived in Russia for some time after 2008, and have three children together.[4][2][5] Chambers and his second wife, Cameron Park, met in Atlanta after his return from Russia.[2] In 2013, Chambers was arrested for domestic battery and false imprisonment of Park, although he was not prosecuted; they divorced after 2020.[3][2][5] In February 2024, he married Stella Schnabel, daughter of filmmaker Julian Schnabel; they have a son together.[4][5] Chambers and Schnabel had attended Saint Ann’s School in Brooklyn together and reconnected in New York decades later, when Chambers was with Park and spotted Schnabel across the room at a cafe.[2]
Chambers has changed religions several times during his life. In his early 20s, Chambers converted to Catholicism and embraced hardline anti-abortion views.[2] In the late 2010s, Chambers attended the Peyote Way Church of God, an Native American Church in Arizona.[5]
In 2023, Chambers converted to Islam and currently resides in Tunis, Tunisia, where he is a sponsor of Club Africain.[10][5] Chambers previously lived in New Hampshire and the Berkshires region of Massachusetts.[1][11] His wealth is self-reported to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e McPhee, Michele (2023-10-27). "Cox Family Fortune Heir: 'I Chant Death to America Every Day'". LA Mag. Archived from the original on 2024-03-23. Retrieved 2024-03-29.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Adler, Dan (2024-05-01). "The Life and Times of Fergie Chambers". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2025-01-04.
- ^ a b c d e Weiss, Suzy (4 December 2023). "He's Got $250 Million to Spend on Communist Revolution". The Free Press. Archived from the original on 2024-03-22. Retrieved 2024-03-29.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Butler, Kiera (2024-03-21). "There's a Communist Multimillionaire Fomenting Revolution in Atlanta". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on 2024-03-27. Retrieved 2024-03-29.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Peisner, David (2024-03-24). "Fergie Chambers Is Heir to One of America's Richest Families — and Determined to See the U.S. Fall". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2024-03-27. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
- ^ Bellow, Heather (2023-12-12). "Has Fergie Chambers shut down the Berkshire Communists' 'gym' as ordered by Alford officials? It remains unclear". The Berkshire Eagle. Archived from the original on 2024-03-26. Retrieved 2024-03-29.
- ^ a b c Bellow, Heather (2023-11-16). "Young. Communist. Gun-owner. Multimillionaire. Pro-Palestine. Pro-Hamas. Berkshire landowner. Meet James 'Fergie' Chambers". The Berkshire Eagle. Archived from the original on 2024-01-09. Retrieved 2024-03-29.
- ^ a b Bethea, Charles (9 October 2020). "How the "QAnon Candidate" Marjorie Taylor Greene Reached the Doorstep of Congress". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
- ^ Wheatley, Thomas (19 July 2023). ""Stop Cop City" petition drive backed by big bucks". Axios. Archived from the original on 23 March 2024. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
- ^ Ben Ibrahim, Chedly. "American Multimillionaire Fergie Chambers Becomes Sponsor of Club Africain". hanslucas.com. Hans Lucas. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
- ^ Bellow, Heather (2024-01-09). "Alford has shut down Fergie Chambers' communist gym for permit breach". The Berkshire Eagle. Archived from the original on 2024-03-26. Retrieved 2024-03-29.