Alive and Free

A few days ago, NPR showcased an extremely interesting documentary by a journalist named Ellis Cose; the piece was entitled, “Nerds in the Hood,” and dealt with issues of academic success in impoverished urban areas.  The documentary examined the types of negativity messaged through media, music and peer pressure for some adolescents growing up in the inner city and took a close look at an organization that is trying to combat the idea that smart = weak.  The Omega Boys Club/Street Soldiers (not affiliated with the Boys and Girls Club of America) is a not-for-profit organization that was started in the mid-1980’s by a man named Dr. Joseph E. Marshall, Jr.  The main ethos of the Club is to treat violence like a contagious disease – spread through negative human interactions.  The ‘cure’ that they tout is something that they call the “Alive and Free” Prescription, which is a set of life rules which seek to keep kids alive and free from incarceration and mental manipulation (by gangs, etc).  The rules are as follows:  

1) There is nothing more valuable than an individual’s life. (never kill an enemy.)

2)  Respect comes from within.

3)  Change begins with the individual.

*4)  A friend will never lead you to danger. (a healthy person stands alone.)

 The Omega Boys Club recognizes that youth living in economically depressed urban areas need extra support and constant counter-messaging in order to “get out.”  On the Alive and Free webpage, it says that negative behaviors present as a “technique for survival…when in fact the opposite is true.”  In thinking about the students that we teach in Baltimore City, it might be useful to attempt to message this ‘violence as a [curable] disease’ idea as the need arises.  I know that a lot of teachers in the City see violent acts, hear violent and negative speech and see the glorification of illegal and destructive behaviors [I’m thinking of a student of mine who has worn a skirt to school every day since getting on an ankle box] every day and feel pretty helpless against the sense of empowerment that it seems to bring the students.  The Omega Boys Club believes that positive role models and messaging, fruitful after-school activities and a sense of security (whether at home or elsewhere – school?) can help to counteract the false message that violence=survival.

Here are some interesting websites hosted by the Omega Boys Club:

 

http://www.stayaliveandfree.org/

http://www.street-soldiers.org/contents.htm

 Here is the documentary from NPR:

 http://elliscose.com/against-the-odds/nerds-in-the-hood/