The first of the "10,000 Men" step out for some "field training


By Andrew Maykuth

Inquirer Staff Writer

With enthusiasm that belied their numbers, the first 100 men committed to encouraging thousands of African Americans to become community activists took to the street yesterday in a "field training" exercise.
On a sunny, brisk day, the initial public patrols of "10,000 Men: A Call to Action" set out from the Vare Recreation Center at 26th and Morris Streets to canvass about 16 blocks of South Philadelphia and Point Breeze.

Trained to be polite and nonconfrontational, the men walked the neighborhoods and distributed printed door-hangers introducing the outfit, which was organized in reaction to a violent crime wave that has affected black neighborhoods more than most.

"There won't be conflict," said Anthony Murphy, one of the leaders of the organization's field operations. "We're going to be friendly black men. It's important."

The organizers said they were not disappointed at the turnout; about 200 men who were trained as "vanguard" leaders had been expected to show up for the initial outreach. The men who patrolled yesterday are expected to supervise squads of about 10 men in the coming months.

"We want to be a positive force in the community," said E. Steven Collins, a radio personality and spokesman for the organization. "This is systematic. It's not just for show."

The 10,000-men organization was introduced to the public last month amid substantial fanfare - and some skepticism that the effort would be short-lived and fizzle. Using volunteer labor and private contributions, organizers are methodically building the group as quickly as possible, they say, to prevent a loss of fervor among the more than 11,000 people who have registered with the organization.

"It takes time," said Murphy, the head of the city office that oversees town watch groups, who is helping former City Managing Director Joe Certaine organize the field operations. "But now, as you can see, it's actually taking place, and we're moving out. This is the beginning."

Police Commissioner Sylvester M. Johnson, who said he was committed to helping the organization after his retirement in January, said the group was determined to live up to the mostly positive attention it had received.

"We know the whole nation is looking at us," he said. "We want to do it step by step, do it correctly."

Johnson's successor, former Washington Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey, also endorsed the effort recently. "It's a heck of an idea," he said. "I'm glad to see it moving forward."

Encouraged to wear black, the men yesterday were fitted with armbands and baseball caps that sported the organization's red-black-and-green logo, an African shield with crossed spears.

The logo is intended to be nonpolitical and nonreligious, said Abdur-Rahim Islam, the organization's general manager. "The common denominator for us all is that we're all from Africa," he said.

The organizers say their aim is to encourage African American men to take a more active role in their neighborhoods and families.

The unarmed field patrols will function as a kind of hybrid town-watch organization that will patrol neighborhoods and encourage young men - who commit much of the violent crime, and are its victims - to put down their arms and pursue a more productive path. The volunteers will attempt to steer the men toward services such as job-training programs.

"We want to set an example, interacting with the young men, giving them a positive message, and giving them a better outlook on themselves," said Wayne Rahman, a Marine veteran who is president of the South Philadelphia Black Association. "These guys need to be educated as to who they are, just good human beings."

Islam said the organization was struggling to overcome some perceptions that it is a paramilitary force or an extension of the Nation of Islam, whose Million Man March and its offshoots did provide some inspiration.

The "glue" of the organization, he said, is music producer Kenny Gamble, a prominent Muslim who is providing much of the manpower for the outfit; the organization will open offices soon in a Gamble property in the 1500 block of Christian Street. In the work world, Islam is also chief executive of Universal Cos., Gamble's community-development enterprise.

But Islam said the 10,000-men organization was nonreligious.

"People are just looking for things that are going to divide us," he said. "Sometimes the negative grows faster than the positive. But nobody . . . has ever said anything about religion. We have Muslims, non-Muslims, Christians, non-Christians, the whole gamut."

The first of the "10,000 Men" step out for some "field training." | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/25/2007