| Efforts To Uplift Local Black Male Youth Underway |
Published:
6/1/2016 3:55:03 PM
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| A group of 40 African-American men pose for a photo after participating in an organized walk in the Waylyn community in an effort to reduce the violence devastating Black communities |
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Staff Reports
About 40 black men representing a group of men organizing to impact gun violence and crime in the Black community May 16 walked through the Dorchester Waylyn community in an effort to reach out to young black boys and men.
The loosely organized group of men, tentatively calling themselves 100 Black Men of the Lowcountry, have been meeting and strategizing to co-ordinate efforts to reduce the violence that is devastating Black communities and decimating the Black male population. The May 16 walk into one of North Charleston’s most at-risk communities was an initial activity that came out of those meetings.
Nation Of Islam Min. Deondre Muhammad led the first group of black men who will be walking into communities to meet with young black males in their neighborhoods on their own terms as a demonstration of the love older black men in the past have failed to give our boys.
A coalition of black men have been meeting 6 p.m. each Monday at the International Longshoremen Association Hall located 1142 Morrison Dr. in Charleston to discuss ways to help young black men navigate the social systems they face.
“Based on our concerns for our young men and our community, we will be going into communities as part of an intervention, talking to young black men, establishing relationships with them to develop a dialogue so that we may transform our communities,” Muhammad said. “We will show them love, shake a hand and make a friend.”
Among the group’s ultimate goals are to offer young black men sustainable alternatives to crime and violence that includes information and resources, Muhammad said.
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