Leon Henry had previously preached to his 13-year-old nephew the importance of being a black man who gives back.
Henry, the boy's legal guardian, has stressed for years how the city needs more male role models, ordinary men who work honest jobs and are willing to share time and energy to combat a rising violent element rampant in the streets.
A citywide forum held yesterday gave Henry the chance to drive his point home.
"He's got to see me do it, not just talk about it," said Henry, as his nephew, Dwayne Edwards, stood close by during an assembly aimed to attract 5,000 black men to volunteer and give back to the community.
Henry brought Dwayne as part of the family's Father's Day celebration.
"He's got to witness me," he said. "Because one day, it's going to be his turn. And he isn't going to do anything if he can't remember back to me being involved."
Fathers, sons, community activists, job seekers and thousands of others filed into the Baltimore Convention Center for the "A Call to Action" meeting, a mobilization effort organizers say was designed to rebuild and restore positive black men in the community.
The assembly, which its leaders said they hoped would galvanize 5,000 men at the convention center but appeared to have fallen short, was modeled after a similar effort in Philadelphia. In October, groups of men from across Pennsylvania showed up for more than two hours into an auditorium at Temple University for 10,000 Men Philly, a street-level mobilization.
Similar to Baltimore, Philadelphia's homicide number swells well into the hundreds, and the city's leaders are searching for ways to curb the violence.
Mayor Sheila Dixon, schools chief Andres Alonso, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings and several local activists sat on stage at yesterday's program, headlined by Michael Eric Dyson, a frequent speaker on black social issues and author of 16 books.
Organizers were looking to energize Baltimore's black community, using the assembly as a starting point to return to the community and combat a rising "thug" culture.
Attendees filled out registration cards with activities for which they would like to volunteer, which included tutoring youths and participating in fatherhood workshops.
A database will contain all the information, and organizers say follow-up calls will be made to alert attendees of mentoring opportunities.
