Reggie Singleton has a mission: As director of The Males Place, he wants to take 15 boys and five chaperones to Ghana, West Africa, in June. But to make this happen, he needs to raise about $90,000.

The Males Place is a program of the Mecklenburg County Health Department. It offers guidance and life-skills coaching to boys ages 12-18. Group leaders counsel the teens on issues relating to health, behavior, education, pregnancy prevention and more. 

 I was introduced to the group last month when the boys -- all African Americans – went to sing Christmas carols at the Loving Touch Adult DayHealth Care Center on Beatties Ford Road (photo below).

Singleton said the Ghana trip would be the final leg of a three-part plan to expose the boys to various chapters in our African American history.

They went to Charleston in 2007 to see the place where African slaves arrived in chains. They also journeyed to Memphis, Tenn., to study the Civil Rights struggle and to retrace the final steps of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

The trip to Ghana, Singleton said, would help the boys better understand the more ancient parts of our past, the chapters written long before our ancestors were coughed up on the shores of North America.

“As we teach the African American experience, we wanted them to know that Africa is vast continent, that there were great achievements, accomplishments and dynasties there,” he said.
While in Ghana, the boys will take part in community service projects, such as gardening and distributing toothbrushes.

Singleton said he wants the boys to experience the ancient traditions of African culture, especially the council of elders – the venerable decision-making bodies that still exists in some rural settings.

Not coincidentally, African culture plays a major role in how The Males Place is run.

The boys are divided into groups named for some of the great kingdoms of Africa – the Zulus, the Dogans, the Nubians and the Ashantis. And when a teen needs correction, he is brought before a council of elders, which listens attentively to the boy but has final say on punishment.

Singleton said the council is meant to reinforce to the boys that conflict can be resolved through thoughtful, non-violent means.

“Our guys think that everything that’s important in life and everything that is happening in the world is happening here on Beatties Ford Road,” Singleton said. “We’re trying to broaden their experience. We want them to have a greater appreciation for what they have her in America, but we also want them to have a greater appreciation for Africa. Hopefully there will be some inspiration.”

Over the comings weeks and months I will be writing more about The Males Place and Singleton’s efforts to raise money for the Africa trip.

Meanwhile, we at Qcitymetro.com are asking those who can to donate. Online contributions may be as small as $5.

To give, click on the following Web address or copy it into your computer’s browser: https://secure2.convio.net/tchf/site/Donation2?1760.donation=form1&df_id=1760