National News

Combatting Senseless Violence on the Streets of Philadelphia

By Gregory Muhammad -Guest Columnist- | Last updated: Dec 14, 2017 - 3:12:10 PM

What's your opinion on this article?

philadelphia_12-05-2017.jpg
Among supporters were community activists, members of Operations Save Our City and Men United For a Better Philadelphia during the rally at Connie Mack Park.

PHILADELPHIA— The NOI Prison Reform Ministry Delaware Valley Region is directly involved with the movement to help prevent violence on our streets.

We come with the experience of living the “street life,” which consists of gang-banging and dealing drugs.

We come with decades of experience living inside prison for violating our community or committing some other crime.

We come demonstrating our reform after accepting the teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad as taught by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. We are living proof of what Minister Farrakhan teaches, “any human being can change.”

In the Bible, there is a woman that was brought to Jesus by the scribes and Pharisees, they say she committed adultery. Jesus responds, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” “And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, they went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.”

When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, “Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee?” She said, “No man, Lord.” And Jesus said unto her, “Neither do I condemn thee; go, and sin no more.”

The teachings of The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and Minister Farrakhan set us free from our sins. So, when the prison doors open, we go free and sin no more.

Earlier this year, June 28, 2017, Brother Malik Aziz, founder of the Philadelphia Ex-Offenders Association that got the attention of Former Philadelphia Mayor John Street back in 1996 called for launching a “Corner to Corner 4 Life Street Violence Intervention Initiative.”

Many community activists, former prisoners, and prison reform organizations answered the call.

Brother Aziz expressed his regrets for the senseless murder on the streets of Philadelphia, he said, “some of us, being proactive, will bring a ground level awareness to the issues of violence, in all shapes and forms.”

philadelphia_12-05-2017b.jpg
(Left to right) Brother Mahdi Salaam, Brother Malik Aziz and Brother Gregory Muhammad
A rally was held at Connie Mack Park on 22nd and Lehigh Avenue in North Philadelphia. It was the same location where a woman was stabbed multiple times outside Dobbins High School and across the street from one of the biggest churches in North Philadelphia. There was no press conference or community outrage about this brutal murder until Brother Aziz put the call out for the rally. Brother Aziz shared a few words with this writer during an interview at the rally. He gave us some insight on his life while incarcerated. “What impacted me the most while incarcerated for 14 years is how I grew to resent what I did and what was going on in the prison. One thing about changing yourself, your heart got to change and your mental capacity. I asked Allah to give me direction,” said Brother Aziz.

“Allah gave me direction so that was the course that I took. Several years before I left prison, I used to be with Brother Mokus up there. We used to walk the yard a lot together and worked together in the Correctional Industries shop. We planned to start the Ex-Offenders Association, after whoever got out of prison first, which was me, to start the ball rolling. That was the plan and whoever else got out, they all came into the fold,” he explained.

“I spent time writing letters to John Street who was Philadelphia City Councilman president. I gave him ideas on how to stop the violence and how to work with people just coming out of prison and all those things. He later became mayor of Philadelphia. He listened to what I had to say and then brought me into the Mayor’s Office administration.”

Brother Aziz founded “Men United For a Better Philadelphia.” It was launched January 2, 2002. “It was in response to the murders in our community. At that meeting it was over 200 people in attendance. Former Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson was present at the meeting. We agreed to stand as Black men and go into the community to be a presence, to especially talk to the young Black men, giving them a better insight on how to stay alive and to educate themselves,” he recalled.

Brother Aziz moved on to establish another organization called “Exhoodus.” He went on to say, “The Exhoodus mission was the response to the ‘gang’ situation. The same year 2002, we had a meeting in Washington, D.C., with 50 people that were former incarcerated ‘gang leaders,’ from different cities.” Right before President Barack Obama took office during his inauguration Brother Malik recalled a meeting and conversation with former Vice Lords leader in Chicago, Benny Lee. “I was in Chicago and got in touch with Benny Lee. He invited me to his home. I stayed there all day. We talked and he shared with me his plan of action that he had working with the gang members to stop them from killing each other. Benny Lee said, his biggest problem was nobody seemed to want to forget that he was a Vice Lord and that he was a high-ranking Vice Lord. He was one of the warlords.”

“What really impressed me the most about Benny Lee is how he took all that anguish, all that drama he had been through in his life and still pursued a higher education. He went on to become an adjunct professor at Chicago State University. This is true with many of us whose skill set is that strong, like yourself,” he told me.

The NOI Prison Reform Ministry Delaware Valley Region works with various Philadelphia Prison Reform Organizations to help reduce the violence on our streets. We commend Brother Malik Aziz and those with him for their great work and sacrifice.

(Gregory Muhammad is the Nation of Islam Student Regional Prison Reform Minister for the Delaware Valley Region.)