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So, last week, we participated in the inaugural ceremonies of Bro. Herman “Skip” Mason. It was truly an enjoyable occasion. There were Brothers from across the globe on hand to witness, first hand, Alpha Phi Alpha and all its glory.

One presentation that stood out was by Dr. Robert M. Franklin (President, Morehouse College). During the Saturday luncheon, Dr. Roberts outlined, in precise steps, what can be done to restore our communities; as a matter of fact, it came directly from his book “Crisis in the Village: Restoring Hope in African American Communities.”

To say its worth a read is an understatement. While Dr. Franklin’s presentation gave an overview of the entire book, the part that caught my attention was “A Call to Action.” This was particularly interesting considering this past summer, the men of Baltimore City held “A Call to Action” on Fathers’ Day. It was our day to place a stake in the ground and confirm our intent to actively participate and lead the “regeneration” of our communities.

As Dr. Franklin stated, such an activity first begins with personal renewal. We must all make the commitment to do “a” part. The issues facing our community are so magnanimous that it will indeed take “a village” to resolve. However, if we each do “a” part, “our” part, we’ll be that much closer to bring it to fruition.

The call to action is really about bringing people together to have a conversation. While I’m not aware of what other cities have done, in Baltimore there have been several attempts to begin efforts to “solve the problem.” However, what has not happened on a consistent basis is a venue for all stakeholders to have a conversation, to just get together and talk. At the end of the day, we all know we don’t have the silver bullet, but we just want to be heard.

The last two points of Dr. Franklin’s remarks really provide the prescription for what needs to be done; calling for collaborative leadership and creating a vision and strategic plan. Far too often there are efforts to “create” a new program or “begin” something no one else is doing, however, in the end, we’re all doing the same thing – a mentorship program is a mentorship program. Well why not a mentorship effort that targets primary school children that hands off to a mentorship program targeting middle school children that hands off to a mentorship program targeting high school youth? Humph, collaboration.

The lack of one source providing direction within a community requires all organizations come together to provide a collaborative structure to ensure our youth are adequately nurtured and provided for. Can we do this? To use a recently coined phrase – “Yes we can

There are a number of bright minds leading our organizations. Its time for us, as parents and citizens of our respective jurisdictions, to require our leaders to be more collaborative in all of their efforts. With philanthropic funding experiencing the same economic squeeze as our households, we must hold leadership accountable for action, another point from Dr. Franklin’s book.

Its one thing to ask leaders to do something, but its an entirely different thing to hold them accountable by following up on our initial request. Not that they won’t do so, but how do you know your request was acted upon or responded to lest you follow-up?

In all the presenters during the lunch and symposium portion of the Inaugural Celebration were all good, but we’ve all seen good presentations, and its time for us to enact and act upon the suggestions provided. Let’s bring back one of those older philosophies – “each one, reach one” – to ensure we make a difference and have a true impact in our community.

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