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BY SARAH PETERSON

In print | Published November 8, 2007

“Enough is enough.” “It’s a new day.” These and other phrases of renewed determination and hope have recently been heard around Philadelphia, as the community responds to escalating rates of homicide and violent crime.

In the past several weeks, an alliance of community leaders — including clergy, local officials, media moguls and prominent businessmen — has come together to organize the concerned citizens of Philadelphia in an effort to “take back the streets” and take personal responsibility for fostering change in the areas of the city that are most affected by the violence. This grassroots effort falls largely under the heading of the highly-publicized “10,000 Men In Philly” movement, which plans to organize men into volunteer patrol groups that will move around neighborhoods as a visible peacekeeping presence meant to deter violence and set an example for others in Philadelphia.

A History of Violence

According to an FBI report released at the beginning of the summer, Philadelphia had the highest murder rate of the nation’s largest cities in 2006. There were 406 murders last year, and as of November 1, 2007 there have been 321 homicides in 2007 — putting the city on track to once again near the 400 count. The increase in homicide from 2005 was 7.7 percent in Philadelphia, higher than the national average of 6.9 percent. Homicide, it appears, is not only prevalent, but also on the rise. While this is not breaking news, it is an ongoing emergency in Philadelphia and impacts the lives of citizens every day — if not directly, then through the prevailing trends of population loss and a decline in the overall quality of life. According to Philadelphia Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson, 94 percent of those being killed and 94 percent of those doing the killing are high school dropouts. 87 percent of the victims had criminal records, as do 84 percent of those committing the murders.

Among the 321 killed this year, 265 were black. Of those, 243 were black males, and 114 were black males under the age of 25. Almost all homicides were carried out with firearms. “Since January 1998, we have lost 2,885 black men to murder,” Johnson said. Leaders have spoken about the crisis as having a particular impact on the city’s African-American population, and consistently referred to the movement as specifically being an opportunity for black men to “be the change that they seek.”

Envisioning the Movement

It was entertainment executive Charlie Mack who initially conceived the vision of the 10,000 men movement over a year ago. Mack, a Philadelphia native who founded concert management company 215 Aphillyated, said that he took the idea to Kenny Gamble, another music executive dedicated to rebuilding and improving the conditions of life for the underclass black community in Philadelphia. Gamble had previously headed a local campaign called “Clean up the Ghetto” in 1979, and is currently a leader within the Philadelphia Millions More Movement, a coalition of community groups. Gamble and Mack accelerated their organizing efforts in late summer 2007 in response to an escalation of gun violence at the time.

The resulting committee of leaders included such prominent figures as Commissioner Johnson and Philadelphia Mayor John Street, as well as religious leaders, radio personalities, scholars and community activists. Street, who earlier in his term as mayor had implemented a Safer Streets initiative towards preventing violent crime, lauded the grassroots quality of the 10,000 Men movement during a press conference.

“All too often people, not just men, decide that change needs to happen: We need to have a better city, we need to have stronger communities, there needs to be more recreation, there needs to be more mentoring, there needs to be more activities—and then when it comes time to get somebody to do it, they’re looking for somebody else,” Street said. "Well in this particular case there are a number of people who decided

‘The change that I want has to begin with me.’" The movement was promoted with flyers, radio announcements and an official Web site where men could register to participate. On Oct. 21, a rally and informational event was organized at Temple University’s Liacouras Center. Nearly 10,000 men arrived for the event alone, where they were able to register in person and also meet with various community groups, services and non-profits that were co-sponsoring the event.

The rally itself consisted of inspirational speeches, performances and an overview of where the movement would go from that day forward.

“Not Reinventing the Wheel”

The movement’s leaders directly cite their influences — Mack even pointed to Gamble as the source of his inspiration — and acknowledged in the press conference and the general assembly the movements that had come before.

Particular mention was made of the Million Man March in 1995, a large march on Washington addressing issues of political power, education, spiritual values and unity within the black community.

Moreover, there are a number of institutions and organizations already in place in Philadelphia working to address the issue of violence, as well as the other problems closely related to violent crime.

Mothers in Charge, Men United for a Better Philadelphia, Big Brothers Big Sisters and Blueprint for a Safer Philadelphia are just a few.

While emphasis has been placed on the male volunteers’ patrolling the streets under the guidance of Operation Town Watch, the movement is more broadly framed as being about just getting more involved.

“We are not today reinventing the wheel,” one of the organizers said. “We are asking for our men to volunteer to existing things that are happening in our community.”

More than being about patrolling the streets, the movement is about personal responsibility and reframing the community itself.

“This is a call to action for all of us to get on the same page,” said prominent businessman Abdur-Rahim Islam. “If it’s going to get done, we’re going to get it done. And if it ain’t going to get done, we’re not going to get it done. But it ain’t nobody else that’s going to magically come into this community and get it done.”

“Law enforcement by itself will never change the quality of life,” Johnson said, stressing the role of intervention in the plan. “The only thing more police officers are going to do is lock more men up. The fact is, what this movement does is prevent them from being locked up, is being proactive…. We’re not taking the place of police; it’s a partnership.”

According to the operation’s spokesperson Norm Bond, men are still going through orientation and training. “We’re looking at completing that process within the next week,” Norm said on Wednesday. They plan to have men out on the streets within the next 30 days. So far, an estimated 3,000 men have attended the orientations and trainings, which are run by Town Watch Integrated Services, a pre-existing organization. Bond stressed that there are other ways for men to get involved in the operation, beyond working with Town Watch and going on neighborhood walks. The goal is to increase mentorship and volunteerism as well, and this can be done through many other affiliated organizations and service groups.

The Next Steps

“We know what the long term solution is,” said Johnson. “We know we need more jobs, we know we need more education, we know a lot of different things. We have every intention of doing that. But right now our intention today and in the next weeks or next two months is to stop the bleeding.”

In the week following the rally, orientations for volunteers were held at different locations across the city, beginning with one at West Philadelphia High. Some 300 men arrived to hear from director of operations Joe Certaine about what specific role they would be playing in this large-scale town watch. The men are first going to go through conflict resolution training — discussing what-if scenarios and how to be a leader in the local neighborhood community — and then will be organized into walking groups of 10, designated by zip code so that volunteers can stay close to the community in which they live. The groups will report to a contact person and patrol their neighborhoods for three hours in the evenings, three nights a week for 90 days. The role of the peacekeepers will be multilayered, but they will not be law enforcers. Unarmed and not allowed to make arrests, they will only be identifiable by armbands or hats. Their responsibilities include taking notes on the neighborhood and areas that need cleaning up or have suspicious people.

Being on the streets as potential witnesses will hopefully cut down the amount of crime that happens in the public view — a shift in values from the “stop snitching” mentality that has previously permeated violent neighborhoods and allowed crime to carry on unfettered.

Volunteers on patrol will also talk to people in the neighborhood — specifically to spread the word about the movement, get to know the community, and be positive role models for young males in their neighborhood. There is a symbolic purpose in the patrols, and that is the articulation that people do care about their neighbors and their city. This also accounts for the gendered aspect of the 10,000 Men movement, the fact being that young men are largely the ones committing these crimes. Volunteers and organizers did, however acknowledge the role of women — both in organizing the movement, and in having their own responsibilities in stopping violence through their family and community roles. The consensus was that everyone has a way of getting involved and a responsibility to do so.

“What makes me want to get involved? I live in Philadelphia. And I know, living in Philadelphia, if my voice or my action can make one step to keep something from being out of the ordinary or violent, then that’s why I’m here, to make a difference,” said Albert Hayden, who was volunteering at the Liacouras Center by helping men register.

“To be part of something that I think can be a real positive change in our neighborhood,” said volunteer Shareef when asked why he was at the West Philadelphia High orientation. Shareef attributed the surge in violence to “unemployment, lack of both parents in the home.”

“They’re lacking that male role model and father figure,” Shareef said of the young men committing crimes.

“I just wish it would stop,” said Rasheed Collins, a young man who attended the rally. “I hope something good comes out of this, I hope people don’t say ‘It was something they just did it one day and that was it’ — we’re going to keep going and keep going.”

After the 90-day period of patrolling and peacekeeping, the movement will step back to assess its impact and reevaluate its goals and methods.

The coming weeks and months will show whether or not this potentially historic movement will succeed, but organizers and volunteers are enthused by the subsequent turnout at local trainings and by the spirit of initiative and personal responsibility for one’s community that has permeated the movement. “All of us are going to do it, and that’s never happened. That’s the missing ingredient,” Islam said. “This is a long-term effort.”

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