Brothers for Boston begins April with meaningful march

Brothers for Boston begins April with meaningful march
By Marie Szaniszlo  |   Sunday, April 3, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

REMEMBERING FRIENDS: Participants in the Brothers for Boston march pray together in the Grove Hall neighborhood before marching to Dudley Square to take a stand against crime, violence, drugs and gangs.
Photo by Chitose Suzuki

About 50 people marched through Roxbury yesterday, trying to fire up a community plagued by crime and poverty.

What they lacked in numbers, the “Brothers for Boston” made up for in passion as its marchers walked past murder scenes from Grove Hall to Dudley Square.

“We’re all going to die one day,” said Minister Rodney Muhammad of the Nation of Islam. “Die for what’s right!”

When one of the organizers asked how many of the people gathered knew someone who had been killed, about half raised their hands.

“People are still getting murdered, our schools are being closed, the number of homeless is going through the roof,” said Cornell Mills, 36, of Roxbury. “This is our neighborhood. Let’s claim it for ourselves, and let’s take care of it like it’s ours.”

The march began at Grove Hall Mecca, a shopping mall where Jamarhl Crawford looked around and challenged anyone to point out a black-owned business.

“The have-not’s have to stand up against the have’s,” said the Rev. Christopher G. Womack. “It’s us against them. The powers that be stay in power as long as they keep people fragmented.”

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