Concerned Black Men of Richmond Addresses The Dangers of Drug Use with Youth at Franklin Military Academy

November 27,2023

Greetings all.

The Concerned Black Men of Richmond conducted our 2nd activity of this session on November 18th at Franklin Military Academy.

Due to a recent incident where 4 RVA high school students were hospitalized after ingesting edibles, “The Dangers of Drug Use” was the topic of discussion. It was led by William Nelson, a MCV employee as well as a RVA policeman. Mr. Nelson offered a unique perspective in that he has extensive knowledge of both the medical and legal ramifications of drug use.

There were 14 very attentive young men that attended the activity. They were given detailed information on the various types of drugs, legal as well as recreational types and their effects. It was a lively discussion because of the nature of the subject.

We also took the time to go over the “CBM Grade Challenge.” This is a step-by-step proven strategy on how to be an advocate to bring a grade up in a specific subject.  One of the veteran mentees shared his experience in implementing the steps to improve his grade last year.

The Concerned Black Men of Richmond are working diligently to provide impactful activities that motivate the young men to do their best in all of their endeavors. We are building our program back to a per-pandemic level.

Thanks to each of the mentors and each of you for your interest and assistance in providing quality programs for the young men in our community. It means the world to our youth and the community we serve.

 

Sincerely,
Timothy Mallory,
President CBM-RVA

Click Here to learn more about The Concerned Black Men of Richmond, Inc.
Click Here to learn more about becoming a Mentor.
Click Here to see how you can support our efforts to continue to care for our youth.

Concerned Black Men of Richmond Conducts 1st 2023-2024 Session at the Music Box Studio

November 1, 2023

Hello everyone,

The Concerned Black Men of Richmond conducted our 1^st activity for the 2023/2024 session on Saturday, October 14^th.  The “Music, An Inside Look, Part II” was a lesson on history and music held at the “Music Box Studio” in downtown Richmond.

 A couple of years ago, CBM had the opportunity to work with Grammy Award winning song writer and music producer Lamont Fleming.  He was instrumental in launching the career of Chris Brown and on this day, he was accompanied by producer/songwriter Dialo Moss.

The activity started with an introduction of all attendees and a brief discussion of the history of the location.

The studio on the property of the historic Barrett House was built by William Barrett, a tobacco industry business owner in the mid 1800’s.

In the midst of evacuating Richmond to Union Army Forces on April 3, 1865, the Confederate Army set fire to the tobacco warehouses.  The fire spread throughout the business district and 9/10ths of it was left in ruins.  The Barret House is one of the few buildings to survive and was home of Henry “Box” Brown the famous slave who was boxed and shipped to freedom in Philadelphia Pennsylvania!

https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/narratives-of-henry-box-brown-the/

Next, Lamont asked everyone about their musical taste and if there were any musicians present.  Lamont and Dialo then discussed their extensive musical background and gave a tour of the studio.  Then they discussed the parts of a song and how songs are made.  The mentees then came up with a hook and verses and with the assistance of Lamont and Dialo, they arranged the song “Richmond”.  After a little practice the song came to life!

We took a break for lunch that was catered by “Sweet as Sugar Homemade Desserts”, that was enjoyed by all!

Finally, the boys went back to the studio and recorded their song.  It was awesome to see what these young men can achieve with a little encouragement and assistance.

 

 Thanks to each of the mentors and each of you for your interest and assistance in providing quality programs for the young men in our community. It means the world to our community and the youth we serve.

Sincerely,
Timothy Mallory,
President CBM-RVA

Click Here to learn more about The Concerned Black Men of Richmond, Inc.
Click Here to learn more about becoming a Mentor.
Click Here to see how you can support our efforts to continue to care for our youth.

Concerned Black Men of Richmond Spring 2023 Activity Summary Update

October 9, 2023

 

Greetings all!

The Concerned Black Men of Richmond would like to update you with a Spring ’23 activity summary. 

In March, we held an “Effective Communication & Public Speaking” activity.  It took place at Franklin Military Academy on the 18^th 

On April 15^th we took a trip to The Science Museum of Virginia.  This activity was used as a recruitment tool to grow our youth corp. We also held our Etiquette activity on April 29^th at Franklin Military Academy. 

In May CBM visited Ristorante LaGrotta to show off what they learned in the Etiquette activity. Former Governor L. Douglas Wilder met us at LaGrotta and gave an inspirational question and answer session with our mentees!

 

The Concerned Black Men of Richmond wrapped up the Spring 23’ session with an Awards Cook-In at Franklin Military Academy.  We acknowledged the many accomplishments of the mentees and provided them with a cash gift for their participation.

The Concerned Black Men of Richmond are working diligently to provide impactful activities for the youth in our community.

We have some exciting activities planned for the 23/ 24 session!

Thanks to each of the mentors and each of you for your interest and assistance in providing quality programs for the young men in our community. It means the world to our community and the youth we serve.

Sincerely,
Timothy Mallory,
President CBM-RVA

Click Here to learn more about The Concerned Black Men of Richmond, Inc.
Click Here to learn more about becoming a Mentor.
Click Here to see how you can support our efforts to continue to care for our youth.

Concerned Black Men of Richmond Kicked off 2023 with Career Choices Activity & Black History Museum Visit

March 3,2023

Greetings all!

The Concerned Black Men of Richmond kicked off 2023 with our “Career Choices” activity.  This event is conducted each year and was held on January 21^st at Franklin Military Academy.

There were 5 fields represented in this year’s activity: an engineer, a scientist, an entrepreneur, a firefighter and an auto mechanic.  The presenters were Lamont Benjamin, a civil engineer with the City of Richmond Public Works, Sid Cannon, a CMT (Construction Materials Testing) Laboratory Manager for Froehling & Robertson Inc., Everett Rivers, CEO & founder of Professional Security LLC, Earl Dyer, Battalion Chief / Fire Marshall for the City of Richmond and Darrell Coates, Auto Technician at Whitten Brothers Chrysler/Jeep/Ram/Dodge/Mazda.

Lamont Benjamin, Sid Cannon, Everett Rivers, Earl Dyer & Darrell Coates

Each of them shared their individual stories and the requirements of the fields that were represented.  The young men had a great time interacting with the presenters and learned a lot about how and why they chose their professions.  

The Concerned Black Men of Richmond celebrated Black History Month with a visit to the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia.  The activity was held on Saturday, February 11^th.  We were given a guided tour by Mary Lauderdale tour loaded with inspirational stories that are often untold and or forgotten. 

The Concerned Black Men of Richmond are working diligently to provide impactful activities for the youth in our community.

Thanks to each of the mentors and each of you for your interest and assistance in providing quality programs for the young men in our community. It means the world to our community and the youth we serve.

Sincerely,
Timothy Mallory,
President CBM-RVA

Click Here to learn more about The Concerned Black Men of Richmond, Inc.
Click Here to learn more about becoming a Mentor.
Click Here to see how you can support our efforts to continue to care for our youth.

Concerned Black Men of Richmond has a Successful 1st Half of their 22-23 Session

December 26, 2022

 

Greetings all!

The  Concerned Black Men of Richmond have had a very productive 1^st half of our 2022-23 session!

We kicked off the session with our orientation on 9/13^th.  There were 13 applications submitted for the program.

The first in-person activity was a rap session at Franklin Military Academy on October 15th.  This was an introduction of the mentees to the mentors where we discussed our program objectives, strategies to improve grades and addressed gun violence. We also got suggestions from them on what they would like to see.  There were 7 mentees in attendance at this activity.

The Concerned Black Men of America held the 47^th Annual Awards Dinner on Thursday November 10^th.

The event took place at The Hotel Arundel Preserve and Alex Taylor (one of our founding members) was the representative from the Richmond Chapter.  

The Honorees:

Founders Awards: US Capitol Police Officers, Harry Dunn and Eugene Goodman; Retired, US Capitol Police Sgt, Aguillino Gonell and Retired, DC Metropolitan Police Officer, Michael Fanone

Phoenix Award for Justice: Attorney Benjamin Crump, Esq., Attorney, Daryl Jones, Esq, Transformative Justice Coalition and Bishop Tavis Grant, National Executive Director, Rainbow Push Coalition

Phoenix Award for Entrepreneurship: Jas Leverette Chairman’s Award: Marcus Arbery and the Arbery Family

President’s Award: Ms. Ruby Bridges, Civil Rights Activist, Atty, Anita Hill, Esq., Women’s Rights Activist

Corporate Award, Social Responsibility: Bruce Jackson, Esq., Microsoft (Pending); Shamika Hoyt, SunLife Insurance Co.

Posthumous Awards: Entertainer and Activist, Dick Gregory; Trailblazer and NBA Legend, Bill Russell Education &Public Service; Dr. Emmett Dennis Sr.

 

Our 2^nd in-person activity was held on November 19^th at Franklin Military Academy.  The movie “Courageous” was shown.  This is a movie about fatherhood and the consequences of choices good and bad.  There were 6 boys in attendance and it was well received by all.

 On December 10^th, we held annual Christmas Breakfast at the Golden Corral in Glen Allen.  There were 9 mentees with their parents or guardian in attendance.  Each of the mentees were given $100 for their participation.

We would also like to congratulate to of our past mentees Ramone Jeffers and Jonathan Minor. Ramone Jeffers received a B.S, in Kinesiology from North Carolina Central University.  Jonathan Minor received an Associate’s degree in Computer Science from J Sargeant Reynolds Community College.  Jonathan will continue his education at Norfolk State University.

As we adjust to the post pandemic way of operating; rest assured that the Concerned Black Men of Richmond will continue providing impactful activities for the young men in our communities.  Special thanks to Principal, David Hudson for granting access to Franklin Military Academy for our activities and to Thomas Williams for providing the money for the mentees at the Christmas Breakfast!

Thanks to each of the mentors and each of you for your interest and assistance in providing quality programs for the young men in our community. It means the world to our community and the youth we serve.

Sincerely,
Timothy Mallory,
President CBM-RVA

Click Here to learn more about The Concerned Black Men of Richmond, Inc.
Click Here to learn more about becoming a Mentor.
Click Here to see how you can support our efforts to continue to care for our youth.

Next Page »