Englewood's A.A.M.I. Youth Spend A Saturday at C.R.O.E.

Rashanah Baldwin
Published: September 27, 2012

This past Saturday, several youths from Englewood along with their mentor Michael Tidmore, A.A.M.I. Program Director, attended a historical film showing at C.R.O.E. (The Coalition for the Remembrance of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad).

A.A.M.I. (African American Male Initiative), is a male mentoring program for young men ages 8-18 at the non-for-profit organization Teamwork Englewood. Tidmore teaches them about self-love, self sufficeny and life skills. He says he is always looking to expose his youth to various aspects of their culture and history.

“It’s important in our urban community to understand the importance of what it means to be self-sufficient and even more important for the young men to be taught at a young age”, says Tidmore.

While at C.R.O.E., the youth were able to learn about The Honorable Elijah

A.A.M.I youth, A.A.M.I, Director Mike Tidmoore, C.R.O.E. Business Manager/Co-Founder, Munir Muhammad

Rashanah BaldwinMuhammad and his teachings through the documentaries “Self-Sufficiency” and “Why We Lose”.

Muhammad and his teachings through the documentaries “Self-Sufficiency” and “Why We Lose”.

Youth from the Auburn Gresham and Englewood communities participated in a Peace Basketball Tournament coordinated with St. Sabina & players from the NBA to deal with conflict resolution and recent gang violence.

Tidmore says while that event was just as relevant in addressing issues in the communities, his youth from A.A.M.I. got a unique opportunity to spend their Saturday afternoon in a safe setting at C.R.O.E..They were able to learn about the history, the accomplishments, contributions and impact The Honorable Elijah Muhammad made on the African American community.

“I was very pleased to see Mike Tidmore take the time to bring the young men from our community to view a historical film depicting the positivity in our community,” says Dr. Aginah Muhammad, a member of C.R.O.E..

According to Dr. Muhammad, the films offer these young men, as well as others a historical reference of the work done by The Honorable Elijah Muhammad, which they would not have learned about in a public school setting.

Dr. Muhammad adds that studies show mentoring contributes to preparing high-risk youth for success and improving their competence in some academic subjects as well as life experiences.

“Anytime you can get these young brothers to come into a positive community environment where they see strong black men and boys like them, they have a chance,” says C.R.O.E. member, Jamaal Ali.

Tidmore says his mentees enjoyed the visit to C.R.O.E. and left with the message " to cherish your community and always have knowledge of self".

Keywords: African American Boys, African American Males, C.R.O.E., Englewood Community, EnglewoodPortal, he Coalition for the Remembrance of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, Teamwork Englewood, Teamwork Englewood AAMI