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Local
Community Patrols Aim At Stopping Inner-City Violence
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
A group of young African American males have organ- ized under the supervision of Jihad Muhammad and the Nation of Islam, and are known as the BYC (Building Your Community).
These young men have been scouring communities all over the city to come up with solutions to the violence that continues to be a major prob- lem.
“What we’ve decided to do is establish Community Pa- trols that will be conducted every Thursday in Tampa and St. Petersburg,” said Ali Muhammad, President of the New Tampa Black Panther Party.
“From what we’ve seen, all of the marches in the past never actually went directly into the little holes and alley- ways where the bad things happen. That’s what we’re going to do.”
The BYC consists of young men, some as young as 16, who have either personally experi- enced the violence, or have lost a loved one due to Black-on- Black crime.
“We want to come in and empower communities, not in- dividuals, and put residents in a position where they aren’t afraid to walk their own streets,” said Ali Muham- mad.
“There’s so much fear in African American communi- ties today, and we should not be angry with each other. We need to use that energy to turn things around, and educate our children from the cradle to love everyone, especially their
own people.”
Ali Muhammad said this
move was critical because the BYC doesn’t want to see a spike in violent incidents over the holiday season and be- yond.
“We try to teach the young brothers the right way to do things, using the mistakes we’ve made in the past as an example,” said Jihad.
“What better way to get them to understand what you’re trying to tell them than to share your own stories with them so they can see there is another way, and their lives mean something.”
Ali Muhammad and Jihad Muhammad both in- vite any young man to join the BYC and help restore order in the Black community.
“There is nothing violent about our approach,” said Ali Muhammad.
“You can’t use violence to stop violence. You also can’t continue going through life in fear of your own people.”
The Community Patrols are designed to give the perpe- trators an option to violence, and bring back productivity and prosperity to the Black community.
“There’s an old saying that you have to love yourself be- fore you can love anyone else,” said Jihad.
“That is so true, especially when it comes to our young men walking around with so much hate, and they don’t know why they feel that way.”
The Community Patrols are not a part of any law en- forcement group, but an inde- pendent body of young Black males who want to stop the vi- olence.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 7