by Tony Nichelson
Special to the Tri-State Defender

Real men have jobs, homes, families, responsibilities and passions for life. Real men are confident in their persons and in their abilities. They’re usually busy most of the time, but that’s what maintains those homes and families and passions. So if you are a real man in Memphis, then I now address this plea to you. Whether you’re a 21-year-old man, or recently retired, there is no escaping the fact that your community and your culture need you now… more than ever.

Throughout history, no single person, man or woman was ever singularly responsible for saving his or her culture or community. Regular people (with historic tendencies), such as Adam Clayton Powell, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, Kwame Touré, Marcus Garvey, Bobby Seal, and most recently, President Barack Obama, have stepped up to establish positive movements toward cultural and community improvement.

“Mass-meeting-goer” during the civil rights era risked their lives and their livelihoods to take a stand on issues that were choking the life out of their communities. We now face a national crisis, with local implications, that is no less significant than the challenges faced throughout history. Our children, as wild and reckless as they appear to be, are all VICTIMS. Minister Ishmael Muhammed, national assistant to the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, reminded me of this view during a recent radio interview that I conducted with him.

Our children as victims face so many distractions at a time when they (and all of us) need to be truly focused on early skill and personal progress. They become victims at every turn and with every bad decision they make, be it unprotected sex, chronic drug use, crime, dropping out of school, pornography, disobedience, or any of a dozen other life-changing behaviors.

At the end of the day, puppies can’t raise themselves, baby birds can’t leave the nest, and our children can’t grow without sincere and sober guidance. Real men, in spite of busy schedules, simply must make time to share wisdom, to participate with school nights, to nurture a few boys on their block, support and volunteer for charitable initiatives, and to lend a hand in community and cultural survival… or risk extinction.

We need real men now, more than ever to protect (not exploit) women, and to coach young boys in the rules of life and manhood. Fathers and uncles must look into the risky situations that their daughters and nieces are involved in, and challenge the domestic violence that these ladies face from the cowards that they have chosen as a mate from under a rock somewhere. We need real men now, to make just a little time to step up and be responsible for their block, and to teach a child “The Golden Rule,” and teach them to read better, avoid crime, and pull up their sagging pants that indicate a degree of ignorance that we don’t need anymore.

Real men in Memphis, and everywhere else, are either going to be the largest part of our continuing problem, or they’ll be the key to a powerful solution that just might save the children, the culture and, ultimately, the communities in which we live.

(Tony Nichelson is founder of the 110 Institute and public affairs director for the Citadel-Memphis Radio Group.)