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June 23, 2005

Yawu Miller

Although True-See Allah was enmeshed in gang life as a member of the Castlegate Street gang in the ‘80s, he always showed deference to the smartly-dressed members of the Nation of Islam’s nearby Mosque #11.

“Whenever the brothers came around, we’d show them respect,” he recalls. “If we were drinking or smoking, we’d put it down or put it out.”

Allah met Rodney Muhammad while incarcerated at Deer Island and was impressed with the minister’s message of empowerment. After serving eight years at MCI Norfolk on charges of assault and battery with intent to murder, Allah was ready to put the thug life behind forever.

Now he works with police officers, the sheriff’s department and clergy members to help the next generation of young, criminally-involved youths find a way out of gang life.

“When the weather gets hot, people get frustrated and begin to take out their frustration on one another,” he said. “We go to different hot spots to give people inspiration. Ultimately, we’re just letting people know that there are alternatives to the life they’re living.”

Allah’s outreach is part of the Nation of Islam’s longstanding practice of counseling wayward teens on the street corners they frequent. Nation of Islam members have been conducting outreach in the Grove Hall area since long before Allah staked out his space on Castlegate.

Now, as city officials and black clergy gear up to tackle what many fear may be a tough summer, more and more ministers are turning to street outreach. Two weeks ago, members of the Black Ministerial Alliance held a press conference pledging to conduct street outreach, prayer vigils and community meetings.

Those clergy identified 14 hot spots in the city in which they would focus their efforts.

Activists say the Nation of Islam’s outreach efforts have been an effective anti-crime strategy.

“People listen to the Nation of Islam,” said NAACP Boston Branch President Leonard Alkins. “They’re willing to hear what they have to say and they respect them.”

That respect gives Nation of Islam members the ability to squash beefs between warring gang factions, as was the case last year when a Castlegate gang member shot at two people, injuring one. Allah invited the alleged shooter and those fired upon to a basement office in the mosque.

“We make sure everyone is searched,” Allah said. “Then they will be on equal footing. Everybody knows you can’t bring anything into the mosque.”

Minister Don Muhammad then advised the trio that they were caught in a cycle of violence.

“He let them know that if they continued, one person would end up in a morgue and the other in prison,” Allah recalls. “Two families would suffer. Ultimately, we got the brother who was in the wrong to apologize. It turned out to be a misunderstanding. Once we got to talking, it was all flushed out.”

While the outreach practiced by the Nation of Islam ministers and the Black Ministerial Alliance is widely seen as a positive initiative, Larry Mayes, the city’s chief of human services, says other approaches are needed at the same time.

“Any time you have a visible presence in the community, it can have an effect,” he said. “Of course you need to have other things including youth programming and GED programs.”

Mayes said the city is providing resources, but noted that federal and state funding has been cut.

“Generally, I think the city of Boston has lost $200 million or more for a variety of initiatives involving youth,” he said. “I think Boston has done a phenomenal job, faced with losing so much funding.”

The loss of funding for youth projects and summer jobs, more than any other factor, has many in Grove Hall concerned.

“We’re all impacted by the overall conditions of budget cuts and a worsening economy,” said Michael Kozu, an organizer with Project RIGHT, which works in the Grove Hall area. “In the past, it’s been easier to find job opportunities. Now there’s a lot of competition for resources.”

Although the opportunities may be fewer than in past years, Allah still works with a coalition of law enforcement officers and street workers to help people transitioning out of incarceration as part of the Re-Entry Initiative.

“I’m a tour guide,” he said. “They have to know where they want to go and I get them there.”

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