10,000 Men Itchin’ to Get Busy
Yesterday’s “10,000 Men: A Call to Action” pep rally at Temple’s Liacouras Center was a success. We think. Most who attended say that, although just a little more than 8,000 people showed up — with numbers dwindling as the three-hour event started creeping closer to Eagles kick-off time — the takeaway appeared to be positive.
The idea is generating national attention. The execution, however, is still vague: The tactics to be employed by the volunteers pledging to give up three hours a day to patrol some of the most crime-infested neighborhoods in the city have yet to be determined. Calls to the 10,000 Men hotline were not returned, and, according to the person answering the phone, the group’s official media representative was absent. She said she would call back once she found a “working number” for that individual.
One attendee we spoke to told us that what is definitely known is that the efforts will be more Town Watch-y than Death Wish-y. While it may have appeared in the beginning that police commissioner Sylvester Johnson was deputizing citizens to start ju-jitsuing gun-toting gangsters in West Philadelphia, that’s not the case. This is to be a peacekeeping, Quaker-like approach, one striving to put more positive role models, not vigilantes, into black communities in peril. However, there still appears to be some questions about how long the movement will actually last and what will constitute its being considered a success, a failure or a dog-and-pony show adding up to a colossal waste of time.
Some highlights from yesterday’s event, from an attendee:
• “The media is the enemy” was a pervasive theme — one that was echoed by most of the organizers and by speakers Rep. Bob Brady and Rep. Chaka Fattah. It’s suspected the “media” in question in this case is the Daily News, which has published a few editorials suspicious of the program’s overall effect.
• Fattah showed up in a white T-shirt. Even though it was specifically requested that attendees wear black. Especially ones who were scheduled to speak.
• Michael Nutter showed up late. And when he spoke, he spoke briefly, and the response was tepid.
• Mayor John Street brought his A-game. The attendee said that regardless of what people think of him as a mayor, Street in preacher mode was quite effective and uplifting.
• Dick Gregory sat on stage front and center the whole time but said nothing.
• When one speaker finished his speech with “Vote for Barack Obama,” he was met with a small spattering of applause — and a few boos.
“Orientation” meetings for volunteers begin this week, with the hopes of getting patrols deployed soon after. The next question is, if this doesn’t work, then what? That’ll be Michael Nutter’s problem.
A Legion Responds [Inquirer]
Yesterday’s “10,000 Men: A Call to Action” pep rally at Temple’s Liacouras Center was a success. We think. Most who attended say that, although just a little more than 8,000 people showed up — with numbers dwindling as the three-hour event started creeping closer to Eagles kick-off time — the takeaway appeared to be positive.
The idea is generating national attention. The execution, however, is still vague: The tactics to be employed by the volunteers pledging to give up three hours a day to patrol some of the most crime-infested neighborhoods in the city have yet to be determined. Calls to the 10,000 Men hotline were not returned, and, according to the person answering the phone, the group’s official media representative was absent. She said she would call back once she found a “working number” for that individual.
One attendee we spoke to told us that what is definitely known is that the efforts will be more Town Watch-y than Death Wish-y. While it may have appeared in the beginning that police commissioner Sylvester Johnson was deputizing citizens to start ju-jitsuing gun-toting gangsters in West Philadelphia, that’s not the case. This is to be a peacekeeping, Quaker-like approach, one striving to put more positive role models, not vigilantes, into black communities in peril. However, there still appears to be some questions about how long the movement will actually last and what will constitute its being considered a success, a failure or a dog-and-pony show adding up to a colossal waste of time.
Some highlights from yesterday’s event, from an attendee:
• “The media is the enemy” was a pervasive theme — one that was echoed by most of the organizers and by speakers Rep. Bob Brady and Rep. Chaka Fattah. It’s suspected the “media” in question in this case is the Daily News, which has published a few editorials suspicious of the program’s overall effect.
• Fattah showed up in a white T-shirt. Even though it was specifically requested that attendees wear black. Especially ones who were scheduled to speak.
• Michael Nutter showed up late. And when he spoke, he spoke briefly, and the response was tepid.
• Mayor John Street brought his A-game. The attendee said that regardless of what people think of him as a mayor, Street in preacher mode was quite effective and uplifting.
• Dick Gregory sat on stage front and center the whole time but said nothing.
• When one speaker finished his speech with “Vote for Barack Obama,” he was met with a small spattering of applause — and a few boos.
“Orientation” meetings for volunteers begin this week, with the hopes of getting patrols deployed soon after. The next question is, if this doesn’t work, then what? That’ll be Michael Nutter’s problem.
A Legion Responds [Inquirer]
