Making Peace in the Crescent City

By Rhodesia Muhammad -Contributing Writer- | Last updated: Nov 25, 2015 - 9:26:54 AM

Dennis Muhammad (second from left) and Willie Muhammad (third from left) in New Orleans as part of the Peace Keepers program to stop disputes in the area.

NEW ORLEANS— On the heels of the October 10 Justice Or Else! Gathering in Washington, D. C., Student Minister Willie Muhammad of the Nation of Islam’s Muhammad Mosque No. 46 and the New Orleans Peace Keepers have increased their efforts at stopping the violence in their city and are responsible for successfully squashing 23 beefs with their conflict resolution services.

New Orleans Peace Keepers began in 2009 following the murder of a 2-year-old child by his own father, Student Minister Willie Muhammad shared. That same year, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan’s Saviours’ Day address was titled, “Accepting Responsibility to Build Our Community.” Inspired by the theme of Minister’s lecture and the tragedy that occurred, Fruit of Islam (F.O.I.) Captain Emeritus Dennis Muhammad and Student Min. Willie Muhammad agreed to implement the Peace Keepers Initiative in New Orleans.

As a result, a community meeting was held with those who were interested in aiding in the reformation of the community, particularly Black males. Together, members of the Nation of Islam and a group of men from diverse backgrounds devised a plan called the “Hour of Power” where they sacrifice one hour of their time every week to walk the areas of the city designated as “hot spots”; neighborhoods where violence frequently occurs.

“We are not out there to judge the youth. We are there to make and establish peace that we can work toward keeping,” Captain Dennis Muhammad said. “We’re not out there to preach to them about pulling their pants up, or to stop dope dealing. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad has always taught us that if we put a clean glass next to a dirty glass, we won’t have to say which one is best. We are out there to show them love.”

Even in the early days of the community walks, the Peace Keepers had to resolve conflicts. Student Min. Willie Muhammad spoke of an incident that happened during one of the community walks when a group of young men were armed with an assault rifle and semi-automatic handguns. One of the Peace Keepers intervened and engaged the young men in a brief conversation.

“His words touched them so much, it caused them to have a change of plans. I believe God worked through that brother that day and touched the hearts of those young men. They were planning on retaliating on another young man whom they felt played a role in the death of their friend,” added Student Min. Muhammad. “This is just one example of the work, with the help of Allah, we’re doing to prevent violence,” he added.

Walter Umrani, field coordinator and event planner of the New Orleans Peace Keepers, says, “Our ultimate goal is to demonstrate how effective the street engagements can be and inspire and train local neighborhood residents to pick up the responsibility.”

In efforts to keep the community more engaged, Student Min. Willie Muhammad recently reached out to the local hip hop community to remind them of the responsibility and power they have as leaders. He invited artists to the mosque and asked them to use their presence on social media to help bring awareness to the beef hotline that was created to put people in direct contact with the Peace Keepers. Billboards, radio ads, internet videos, motorbike rallies for peace, and community meetings are other avenues Peace Keepers have been using to raise awareness. Recently, New Orleans native R & B artist August Alsina, retweeted the Squash the Beef Hotline flier after Student Minister Willie Muhammad reached out to him on social media. The singer’s retweet sparked over a 100 more retweets of the flier.

In a follow up on Min. Farrakhan’s desire to see conflict resolution centers established in Black communities throughout America, two telephone conference calls were organized to assist others interested in learning the steps to establishing a conflict resolution center in their cities.

“Our goal is to be proactive in getting to the people before it results in gun violence,” said Student Minister Willie Muhammad.

The Peace Keepers have resolved conflicts with and without direct face to face sit down meetings with disputing parties. For more info on establishing a conflict resolution center, contact [email protected].

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