Taking on 'Black on Black Genocide'

Dozens attended a “stop the violence” town hall meeting last night at West Side High School, a no-holds-barred panel discussion on the issues surrounding black-on-black crime.

Ironically, attendees and even a few panelists expressed impatience with meetings like last night’s session, calling for less talk and more concrete action to halt the pervasive drug dealing and gun violence which leaves many law-abiding Newarkers feeling like prisoners in their own neighborhoods. But others said such meetings can be effective if there’s follow through from ordinary citizens and community leaders.

“I’m here to talk about solutions, because we can talk about problems all night,” said Brother Tru V, of the Newark Anti-Violence Coalition.

“We had a start here and I’d like to suggest we do it again,” said James Mtume, the event’s moderator and host of the Open Line call-in radio show on 98.7 FM.

Mtume moderated a panel that included anti-violence activists, a journalist, a clergyman as well as two representatives from a motorcycle club, the “Enough is Enough Riders.”  West Ward Councilman Ron Rice, a candidate for Congress for the 10th District, also sat on the panel.

Mtume and other speakers last night used the Trayvon Martin case to drive home what they believe is an uncomfortable truth: while African-Americans are quick to mobilize where the murder of a black youth has racial overtones -- Martin, an unarmed teenager, was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch captain in Florida several weeks ago -- they’ve become largely indifferent to the nearly daily occurrence of black men murdering other black men.

While expressing respect for local teenagers who have protested Martin’s killing, Mtume asked, “How many black men have been killed in Newark in the past month?”  

“It’s kind of hypocritical that we can address violence in Florida but not right here in our own community,” said Shariff Amenhotep of the New Black Panther Party.

Other speakers expressed their belief, however, that the white American majority has come to regard black lives as cheap, an idea subtly reinforced in popular culture and unknowingly internalized by some low-income African-Americans.

“Our education is what we’re taught by the enemy.....the black man has been robbed of his knowledge of self, the black man has been robbed of his history,” Amenhotep said.

Solutions, those speakers said, must come from the people of Newark themselves.

One approach, Rice said, was an attempted initiative by the Newark Municipal Council to declare violence “a public health issue,” a step towards “diagnosing” the root causes of violence. Other speakers suggested the problem lies with a lack of positive black male role models, adding that mentoring programs and outreach can help salvage young lives before they’re lost to the streets.

“It seems like our young men don’t get help until they’re in jail. But by then he has a jacket [criminal record],” said the mother of a 15-year-old boy who is struggling in school and has begun to experiment with drugs.

Responding to the woman, Minister William Muhammad* invited her to a program Muhammad sponsors where youth are paired with older mentors for wholesome activities like fishing trips and study groups.

Speakers also noted the city is filled with activist groups and community organizations, challenging Rice -- the only elected official on the panel -- to help those groups get financial assistance.

Rice, who blamed small-government policies dating from the Reagan era for a reduction in federal funds to cities, also said that sometimes, local groups miss out on what funding is available largely for bureaucratic reasons.

“They don’t just give us that money anymore,” Rice said, adding that today, grants come with specific requirements that must be met by receiving groups, such as being a registered tax-exempt charity under the federal tax code.

“We can do a better job with the money we do have available,” Rice said.

Responding to a request from Mtume, Rice said he would schedule a workshop in the next few weeks where groups can learn more about the legal requirements for receiving federal aid money.

The overall tone of yesterday’s meeting was one of very guarded optimism, although no one who participated appeared to be kidding themselves about the scope of the problems they were addressing.  

One speaker, a lanky 19-year-old belonging to the very demographic that was the focus of the session, captured the essence of the challenges he and his peers face with plain-spoken eloquence.

“When you see people dealing crack right in front of you, you hear gunfire when you wake up, people sell drugs because they don’t feel like they got a choice,” he said to the panel. “I seen a lot of my friends die right in front of me. It’s hard.”

*Muhammad’s program, based at 387 Avon Ave., is free and operates Saturdays from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm. Although Muhammad is a member of the Nation of Islam, the program is open to young men of all faiths. Call 973-350-6953 for more information.