MIKE PESCA, host:
An update now on a story the BPP brought you awhile back. It's about an effort by black leaders in Philadelphia to get 10,000 black men to the streets of the most dangerous neighborhoods of the city. The idea is to provide positive role models for inner-city youth, like an it-takes-a-village principle applied to the city streets.
We have a report on how that program is working out in just a minute, but first, a clip of Alison Stewart's conversation with Bilal Qayyum. He's one of the organizers of the effort. He's a cofounder of the civic group Men United for a Better Philadelphia. He's also an economic-development administrator at the Philadelphia Commerce Department.
(Soundbite of reverse playback)
ALISON STEWART, host:
OK. So Philly's a city of about 1.5 million people and you'll hopefully have 10,000 men fan out on the streets. What will be their role? Literally what are they going to do?
Mr. BILAL QAYYUM (Cofounder, Men United for a Better Philadelphia): The roles of the men will be what we're calling peacekeepers. We are trying to put as many men as possible out on areas of the city where there's been high numbers of incidences of shooting and violence. And the men, once again, will be serving as peacekeepers, you know, trying to be in these areas where there's been increased number of shootings or homicides, and trying to make a difference to reduce the violence in the city of Philadelphia.
STEWART: One of the things I think is interesting, in some of the articles I've read about it, is they talked about, the men would be stationed on street corners. Can you explain to me what it is about the street corner in a bad neighborhood, that it's a good place to put some large man who looks imposing?
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. QAYYUM: Well, I think, first of all, Men United for a Better Philadelphia, for the last five years, we've been going out every Wednesday night on street corners around the city of Philadelphia, the corners that have been basically designated by the police as high-volume areas and we've been on the corners. We have dialogue with the young men, and we do see our presence on that one night a week is making a difference.
We go out on the corners consistently, the same corners, and we have statistics to show when we're out, on that time of the evening, crime has dropped. There's no acts of violence, or no shootings, and no drug dealing in those areas where we go. So, we know this can work, and we just see this effort now with this call out of 10,000 men, as a great opportunity to increase the number of men that would be on the streets as peacekeeper.
RACHEL MARTIN, host:
That's Bilal Qayyum, co-founder of the civic group Men United for a Better Philadelphia, speaking with the BPP's Allison Stewart back in October, when the call for 10,000 men was just getting started. Now, nearly nine months later, the results of the program aren't as great as the organizers had hoped. Here's reporter Joel Rose with an update.
JOEL ROSE: Thousands of men answered the call to action last October. The crowd nearly filled the 10,000 seats at the Liacouras Center in North Philadelphia, as a parade of community leaders stepped up to the microphone, including the event's co-organizer, musician and businessman, Kenny Gamble.
(Soundbite of speech)
Mr. KENNY GAMBLE (Co-organizer, Men United for a Better Philadelphia): You can do it. I'm depending on you. Tell the children, when you leave here, that the black man's coming.
(Soundbite of crowd cheering)
Mr. MARK ENSLEY (Community Organizer, Philadelphia Together Works): I was like, yes, finally we hear let's do this. Let's get it on. Enough talk, we need action.
ROSE: Mark Ensley remembers the feeling of satisfaction from that day, a sense that he was about to get a lot of help in his work as a community organizer and activist. But Ensley never got a follow-up call from the 10,000 men. He tried calling the main number on the movement's website, but he always got the answering machine.
Mr. ENSLEY: There wasn't much follow-up, for what I could tell. It was a little bit frustrating to be all dressed up with nowhere to go.
ROSE: Even the men behind the movement admit it took them longer than expected to build an organization that could train and deploy volunteers. Anthony Murphy is director of Philadelphia Town Watch, and one of the organizers of the 10,000 men.
Mr. ANTHONY MURPHY (Executive Director, Philadelphia Town Watch): To build that organization is what took the time. It's like a baby, a baby born, not a man. A baby's born a baby. You've got to realize you born a baby, you've got to grow. And I think what folks didn't realize is that it would take some growth and some time for that.
ROSE: But thousands of men may have gotten tired of waiting. Frederick Whiten runs a business devoted to mentoring young people in Philadelphia. He was at the Liacouras Center, and says he never got a follow-up call either.
Mr. FREDERICK L. WHITEN (President, Because Mentoring Works): It's almost like the people were set up, you see, and that was somewhat disillusioning to me.
ROSE: The organizers of the 10,000-men movement initially talked about squads of volunteer peacekeepers patrolling three nights a week in high-crime neighborhoods all over Philadelphia. The reality is much more modest.
(Soundbite of neighborhood patrol)
Unidentified Man #1: Need any help?
Unidentified Man #2: Yeah, we're trying to figure out where to start on (unintelligible).
ROSE: Ten men wearing black baseball hats and armbands walk the streets of northwest Philadelphia, handing out fliers and introducing themselves to the neighbors. This patrol goes out just one day a week, on Saturday mornings, because that's the only time the volunteers can spare from their other obligations. They're led by Shakur Abdul Ali (ph), a recently retired Army vet, who's also working fulltime and going to school at night.
Mr. SHAKUR ABDUL ALI (Volunteer, Men United for a Better Philadelphia): I think we all are a little surprised, but reality has to set in, and then you have to say, you know what? It is what it is, and it still doesn't change our mission. I love this community, and I love Philadelphia, and I think that's one of the things that we have to love this.
Ms. JANET ZUBER (Resident, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania): I'm happy to see them. I just wish that they would come out more, because we have a lot of killing that's going on.
(Soundbite of dog barking)
ROSE: Janet Zuber (ph) is gardening in her small tidy front yard. The number of murders in Philadelphia is down this year, although nobody really knows why, and Zuber says there's still a lot of crime in her neighborhood.
Ms. ZUBER: People are scared to come outside. I'm scared to come outside.
ROSE: These volunteers are among just a few hundred who are still active in the 10,000 Men Movement, but Anthony Murphy says even if his organization isn't using them, hundreds more are getting involved in other ways.
Mr. MURPHY: The number wasn't the motivation, at least not for me. It was getting more men involved. So we have men who wanted to do patrols. You have men who want to do mentoring. You have men that wanted to become block captains. So what you really will see - begin to see is that there are more men involved in working with young people throughout the city of Philadelphia.
ROSE: Volunteer organizations say they have been seeing more volunteer activity in Philadelphia this year. But they can't say for sure that the 10,000 Men Movement has anything to do with it.
PESCA: And that's Joel Rose reporting from Philadelphia.
MARTIN: Stay with us. Coming up next on the BPP, a new "Choose Your Own Adventure"-esque book leads to very adult situations. Stay tuned for that. This is the Bryant Park Project from NPR News.
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