Background

Concerned Black Men (CBM) is a national non-profit organization dedicated to providing positive male role models and mentors to youth, primarily black youth. CBM was founded in 1976 by five police officers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who wanted to eliminate the gang influence and high crime among youth in Philadelphia. Today, CBM has over twenty-one chapters throughout the United States and is continuing to grow.

The Richmond chapter of Concerned Black Men (CBM-R) was formed in December 1986 by a group of men who saw a need to eliminate negative stereotypes and influences, such as youth violence, black on black crime, high murder rates, drugs and youth imprisonment in the lives of youth in the Richmond Community. Thus the goal of CBM-R is to serve as a mechanism for providing positive models and mentors to the youth in the Richmond Metropolitan Community. It is through this goal that CBM-R meets its mission of giving back to the community, particularly the communities' (our) youth.

Membership in CBM-R consists of two groups, the Adult Membership and the Youth Corps. The adult membership consists of men from various walks of life who give their time and energy to assuring that CBM-R meets its goal and objectives. The Youth Corps with a constant following of 45-50 youth is divided into two sub groups, Youth Corps I and Youth Corps II. Youth Corps I consists of youngsters in grades 5-8 (middle school) while young men in grades 9-12 (high school) comprise Youth Corps II. The Adult Membership holds bimonthly programs and activities specific to each Youth Corps, to address the unique concerns and needs of each group.

CBM-R's programs and activities address five issues, which are (I) career development (II) academic development (III) cultural awareness (IV) personal growth and (V) recreation. The purposes of each are as follows:
Career Development &endash; Stresses the research and development of skills for a particular career through job visits and panel discussions from local business.

Academic Development - Enhances an interest in education and the importance of obtaining a high school diploma through seminars on study techniques and tutoring sessions.

Cultural Awareness - Introduces the African-American heritage and achievements through museum visits and cultural activities.

Personal Growth - Discuss conflict resolutions techniques and promotes responsibility for one's action through seminars on teenage pregnancy, conflict resolution and stereotyping games.

Recreation &endash; Promotes team building and stresses relaxation techniques through one-on-one contacts with adults and youth.
Besides having a purpose, each program and activity has a specific theme(s). The theme(s) is (are) self-respect, self-esteem and/or self-development. It is the hope of CBM-R that its programs and activities will help the youth make wise decisions in their transition from youth to adolescents and eventually into young adults.

During the course of helping these young men make the transition from one phase of life to another, CBM-R has had the opportunity to work with a variety of community-based organizations. Some of these community and civic organizations include The Friends Association, The Virginia Health Center, Planned Parenthood, The Boys and Girls Club of Richmond, The Boys and Girls Club in Churchill, Club 533, The Office of Minority, and Stepping Stone. The benefits of coordinating with a variety of organizations include sharing expenses, combining resources and providing a larger population of youth for the programs and activities. By coordinating programs and activities with these organizations. CBM-R has been able to reach a large number of youth and combine its resources with these organizations.

Caring for Our Youth