BLACK MEN RALLY AGAINST DRUGS, VIOLENCE

Hundreds of African-American men gathered last night to rally against
the tide of violence, drug use and absent fathers plaguing Annapolis'
black community.

With a good number of women and children at their sides, the men
pledged to do their part to improve the greater Annapolis community.

The brainchild of local businessman Derek Matthews, the rally was held
in the sanctuary of the First Community Christian Church just north of
Annapolis.

Mr. Matthews has started the Foundation for 1,000 Dedicated Good Men.
He hopes to set up mentoring sessions, job training programs and more
in an effort to bolster the African-American community, and
eventually, Annapolis as a whole.

"It's time to start doing. It's time to stop talking, gentlemen. We
talk a good talk," Mr. Matthews told the crowd that gathered in the
pews last night. "Tonight, we don't have 1,000. But the vision is to
have 1,000 to make it happen."

For two hours, the church rocked with energized preaching,
inspirational mimes and uplifting songs.

There also were sobering reminders of the problems at hand - the
disproportionate numbers of black men in prison, the profiteering from
private prison contractors, the high percentage of black families in
poverty or with only one parent.

The Rev. Stephen A. Tillett I of Asbury Broadneck United Methodist
Church recalled a verse from the book of Joel, where the Lord's coming
is heralded with a trumpet and an alarm.

"We have come here today, family, to sound an alarm," he
said.

He urged the crowd to "get off our rusty dusty" and take action to
improve families and communities.

"Nobody can do it for us but us," he said, interrupted by applause.
"Let me say it again: Nobody can and will do it for us. It's our sons
and daughters."

To be reminded of the seriousness of the situation, the church was
darkened for a dramatic presentation. There was a scream, followed by
sirens and the sound of a helicopter. A woman standing amid yellow
crime scene tape screamed, "It's my son!"

As the lights lifted, a man with a shirt stained red stood up and
described "a tragic scene in Annapolis that is getting so old."

He removed his street clothes to reveal a suit. Then he held up a
newspaper and said: "Stop making the headlines as the blame ... It's
time to become the kings and priests that we are."

If that didn't energize the crowd, Bishop C. Anthony Muse did with his
powerful oratory.

Bishop Muse is pastor of Ark of Safety Christian Church in Prince
George's County and also a state senator. He was brought in to help
move the participants from talk to action.

At the outset he acknowledged that while he was sort of preaching to
the choir: "Most of you who are here probably don't need to hear what
I say."

But he urged each person to do his part in sharing messages of
responsibility with other young men.

"This is a great beginning. It does not matter whether you start with
100 or 1,000. The world has been turned upside down by just one. I
think of Martin Luther King, who started with a few people in a
basement in Alabama ... it only takes a spark to get a fire going," he
said.

Bishop Muse focused his talk around a verse from Acts, where Paul and
Silas are imprisoned. They prayed and sang to God, then an earthquake
shook the Earth and crumbled the prison and the jailer became a believer.

While we all aren't literally in prison, Bishop Muse said, many are
figuratively in prison.

He said people need to get together like Paul and Silas, and not only
pray, but do something to get out of their figurative prison.

"They didn't sit there and have a discussion about how they got in the
situation," Bishop Muse said, urging participants to "get up and do
something, anything. Just not nothing. If you do one thing, it leads
to another."

Melvin Anderson of Severn brought his 8-year-old twin boys Jalen and
Jorden to the rally - not only because he works with Mr. Matthews, but
because he wants to make sure the boys see what it's like to be a man.

"It's really about showing them the way and training them to be
leaders," Mr. Anderson said, with his arms around the boys, who were
dressed in identical beige suits. "While we're not wealthy, we have
something to offer our community."

Participants filled out index cards indicating how they'd like to help
or how they need help.

Mr. Matthews said he'd start sorting through the cards on Monday and
contacting people to set up programs. He plans to apply for grants and
work with the city government to get things off the ground.

He hopes to have the next public meeting in the spring, perhaps in one
of Annapolis' troubled neighborhoods.