By Reginald Williams
Special to the AFRO
rwilliams@afro.com
Forty Black adolescent males from Baltimore City recently traveled to Birmingham, Tuskegee and Montgomery, Ala., for a cultural excursion of historic landmarks.
The boys visited Tuskegee University, Dexter Ave Baptist Church, Dexter Parsonage Museum, the Legacy Museum, The National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Civil Rights Memorial Center.
This is the 28th year that Cameron Miles, founder and director of Mentoring Male Teens In Da Hood, a Baltimore-based mentoring program, has exposed Black boys to cultural adventures through travel that introduces them to the historical significance of who they are. Morehouse College, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Duke and North Carolina A&T University represent some of the other educational institutions visited by past cohorts.
“We’re giving our young boys exposure and helping them to want to succeed,” explained Miles.
Seven adult chaperones joined Miles on the four-day trip, which commenced on June 13 and concluded June 16. The trip began with a flight to Birmingham. For many of the boys, this was their first experience with air travel. The tour started at Tuskegee University, a Historical Black College and University. Dr. Booker T. Washington served as the first teacher and founding principal, and Lewis Adams, a former enslaved tinsmith and community leader, was instrumental in establishing the educational institution. Subsequent visits to the Legacy Museum, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, Dexter Ave Baptist Church, where a 26-year-old Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. served in his first pastorship, and Dexter Parsonage Museum (Dr. King’s residence while serving as Dexter’s pastor) gave the boys surreal vulnerability to what their ancestors were required to endure.
A part of the activities included taking time to be intentional about experiencing a spiritual connection.
“On the morning of the 15th, we [did] what is called a morning grounding at the river,” Miles said. “We [met] at a river. It [was] a spiritual time to balance a sort of rite of passage experience. I want to make sure that we continue to be on one accord.”
Naturalists maintain that morning grounding, also known as earthing, slows down the heart rate, reduces illnesses and chronic pain and disrupts depression. Engaging and learning a therapeutic exercise can prove valuable for boys growing up in Baltimore.
Mentoring Male Teens In Da Hood began when Miles, a worker for the Department of Social Services, witnessed a group of adolescents behaving disruptively in the building.
“The young people were coming into the building completely out of control,” said Miles. “They were cursing and fighting. I said, ‘I grew up in Baltimore. I can work with these young people.’”
Miles drafted a one-page proposal. His vision was embraced, and 28 years later, the program has served more than 3,000 Black adolescent males. They are currently tracking 65 former mentees. According to Miles, most are doing well, while some have died by violence.
A shining example of what is possible through the program is Imhotep Simba, a former mentee. Raised by a single mother on Dolphin Street and experiencing behavioral issues, Simba, a Coppin University graduate and current Georgetown grad student, completed the program at 18. Desiring to experience the cultural diversity of a different country, Simba, with the help of Miles, spent two years in Ecuador on a Peace Corps mission. Coming full circle, Simba now brings his son and helps Miles with the program.
Miles’ intent for the boys is to have them achieve their greatness.
“My goal is to expose our young men to positive things and role models – male, female, Black or White – from different ethnicities, different occupations so that they can start thinking early and often about what they want to do,” explained Miles. “I want to get engineers in front of them. I want to get pilots in front of them—the judge, the lawyer, the college professor, the business owner and the military general. Whatever the case, they need to see these different pieces and figure out what they want to do.”
The extent to which Black adolescent males do not partake in dangerous and violent encounters can be measured primarily by the extent to which those males are engaged in experiential, life-altering learning opportunities like those provided by organizations such as Mentoring Male Teens In Da Hood. Some of the program’s donations are re-invested directly to the mentees. Miles uses a portion of the funding to pay peers. Those are mentees who have proven themselves as leaders. Miles also rewards mentees who earn A’s in major subjects.
“We incentivize for report cards,” explained Miles. “If your son brings me three A’s in major subjects—like math or English—they get $20 for each A. I think that’s the right thing to do with donations. This does give them an incentive,” Miles said. “Some might say they’re supposed to go to school and do good. But there are so many distractions. Everybody isn’t focused on learning. So, we want to give a reward for doing good.”
Mentoring Males In Da Hood also provides the first $10,000 in scholarship funding for any mentee who desires to attend college.
The program will host its sixth Annual STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) camp from July 8 to August 9.
“I’m not working this hard for everybody to flip burgers and clean toilets,” said Miles. “I’m not knocking that work– but I want them to do and be the very best that they can.”
Now that they have returned, the boys must submit a one-page report detailing how the trip impacted them. Miles calls the tours “learning trips.”
“We want them to be prepared and learn about great things to help prepare them for greatness,” said Miles.
Contributions to Mentoring Male Teens In Da Hood can be made by contacting Cameron Miles at (410) 852-8013 or by email at cmilesmmth@gmail.com.
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