BLOCK CLUB 21 NETWORK 12 STEP COMMUNITY PROGRAM

 Step one says, Love Your neighbor.  We looked for another principle to be our first, because we did not want to send the message that we are a faith base group and we didn’t want to send the message that we favored one religion over another.  However, after careful thought we decided to stick with this principle as our number one because it is the first message we want to send to the neighbors on our blocks. Love your Neighbor is the strongest weapon we can use against the negative culture that has been inculcated within our community today.  Love Your Neighbor is the first step to reversing our community to get it back on track before the 70s.Step two says, Unity in the Community.  With unity we can accomplish anything within our community.  With unity we can control our political leaders, the businesses, faith based organizations, the police, our schools and even those neighbors who are fighting against our goals.Step three says, Love Our Youth. Our Youth is what it is all about.  Our youth are our future.  In order for us to continue we must pass on our goals and aspiration to our youth.  This is how we accomplish 20, 50, 100, 300 or 500-year goals. Our Youth are our hope.  We must show them love in order for us to continue.Step four says, Love & Respect Our Elders.  Our Elders have paved the way to get us to where we are today.  They are the ones who have stopped our annihilation and have put us in a position where we can begin to move our agenda forward.  Our Elders are still very useful because of their wisdom and experiences.  Our Elders have the ability to advise us to avoid many of the traps that may have ensnared their generations.  We have to love and respect the kind of knowledge that can save our very lives.Step 5 Says, Support Our Block Clubs.  We support our block clubs because they are the first line of offence and defense.  In fact, on the block is where the battles are fought.  If we control our blocks we in turn control our entire community.  There is at lest one leader on every block whom everyone on that block respects, this creates a built-in advocacy person who works in the best interest of the block. 

Step six says, Support Our Elected Officials.  Our Elected Officials may have started out with great ideas for their community.  However, because we fail to support them (financially and with encouragement) we put them in a position to be beholding to others who may not have our best interest. We should be aware of those who wish to be elected just for the money, they tend to be your puppets for other’s interests.  I would never support someone who runs for office and has no track record of service within the community.  If there is someone who loves their community and can be effective, I would suggest that all of the other candidates, out of love for their community, not divide our community.  Let me be clear, we should never support elected officials who do not support our community. Candidates for elected office should have the fear of the community in them when considering running.

 Step seven says, Support Our Faith-Based Organizations. We should support our faith-based organizations because at the heart of all religions is a moral conscious that needs to be inculcated within our community and our culture.

Step eight says, Respect Our Community and Keep It Clean.  This is our community and it is our responsibility to respect it and force others to respect it and keep it clean. If members of the community don’t want to respect our community then they may want to consider moving to another community.  Respect means: we watch and discipline our own children, we are not having domestic disputes in public and we don’t litter in our community.  Further we clean not only our own property, but the property of those who can’t do it or lack the resources or the sense to do it themsel

 Step nine says, Don’t Litter!  A trashy community is the symptom of a impoverished, miseducated and violent community. Garbage tends to attract people who are accustomed to a garbage community. We are okay with not all of our people can live with us.  We will accept them when they’re ready. Step ten says, Don’t Cause Harm To Each Other.  Obviously, it is against the law to hurt others physically.  Our intent here is that we should be intentional about avoiding conflict and seeking other means to resolve conflict whenever possible.  Our goal is to gain and keep our neighbors not to lose them. Step eleven says, Don’t Sell or Offer Drugs to Anyone in Our Community! The sell of drugs creates a certain type of community and people. Some of us witnessed the Crack epidemic of the 90’s which our own government used against us to funnel revenues through the Prison Industrial Complex.  Learning from the past we want to avoid the nightmares that drugs brought to our families and our community.Step twelve says, Don’t Steal, Rob, or Burglarize in Our Community! The little things we do have we have worked hard to get and we value our possessions. Step 12 takes us back to Step 1, Love Your Neighbor.  It is certainly not loving to take our neighbor’s property and expect us to not involve the authorities.  It amazes me when people say, “Don’t be a Trick” when we are the victims.  I promise that I won’t tell, if you don’t commit crimes against me or my neighbors.  If you do you won’t have to worry about who told, it will be me!  This is th attitude that all neighbors need to have to stop crimes in the community.  When criminal know that we stick together, they’ll find another community to terrorize.