Dare To Be King :: What If The Prince Lives?

Dare To Be King :: What If The Prince Lives?

Churches should play a major role in improving the social conditions within the African American community. Historically, the Black church has had a unique and powerful tradition of community outreach and youth development. African American Pastors remain in a unique position to significantly affect knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors within the African American community.

Further, the Black church’s historical role in providing education, social services, and a safe haven for youth has been well documented throughout slavery, reconstruction and the civil rights movement. Today, black churches represent over 8 denominations and encompass some 65,000 churches and well over 20 million members.

In an effort to respond to the growing challenges that affect African American males face regarding violence, the Dare To Be King Model was developed for churches, schools and other community groups to be able to provide an instrument designed to address anger, impulse control and decision making among adolescent African American males.

The Dare To Be King Model is recommended for churches that are “seriously” interested in working with adolescent African American males! Our churches must be able to address the spiraling decline of life for African American males.

10 Point Plan for Developing Faith-Based Violence Prevention Projects for African American Males

1 - Meet with congregation and key church officials to determine interests around developing a faith-based, community-focused, violence prevention project with African American males.

2 - Develop needs assessment (survey community residents, school officials and community leaders & parents) for a violence prevention project.

3 - Educate congregation on the impact of violence on the greater community.

4 - Decide on how large or small the project will be.

5 - Review the Dare To Be King Model and other models specifically designed to address violence among African American males.

6 - Explore funding for violence prevention projects (grants, donations etc.).

7 - Recruit and organize church volunteers.

8 - Arrange the Dare To Be King Train the Trainer workshop/conference for church staff and volunteers.

9 - Contact local Universities and Colleges to determine availability to evaluate violence prevention project.

10 - Begin project implementation and have patience!

Create a Rites of Passage Program for community youth.
Start an entrepreneurial program to teach youth business principles.
Plan and implement summer programs for youth that focus on math, science and technology.
Develop a community based Parent Leadership Academy.
Organize church membership to adopt a community school.
Start a book club that reads critical life sustaining books.
Develop a voter education campaign that will address all aspects of grassroots politics.
Mobilize men in the church to start a ‘Fatherhood Network” to address issues related to fatherhood and child rearing.

Community development must extend outside of the pulpit!