The Rev. Dr. Jamal-Harrison Bryant
by Saaret E. Yoseph
Since being featured in Urbanite's March 2005 "Up and Coming" issue, the Rev. Dr. Jamal-Harrison Bryant, founder and pastor of the Empowerment Temple AME Church, has put his abundant energy to a new task. In May, he launched a "Stop Sinning" campaign designed to bring about a dramatic decrease in Baltimore City's murder rate. This campaign is in direct opposition to the "Stop Snitching" credo that discourages witnesses of crimes from divulging information to police. A publicity postcard for "Stop Sinning" reads "The Blood is on Our Hands," proclaiming that every Baltimorean has a role to play in this fight to make the city safer.
Bryant and his congregation have launched several programs aimed at chipping away at Baltimore's violent crime rate. The Empowerment Temple's congregation raised $30,000 to finance an aggressive gun buy-back on June 1. Firearms were accepted from gun owners, no questions asked, and purchased for between $75 and $250, depending on the type of gun. Also, in a component of the campaign known as the "Hood Invasion," volunteers from the Empowerment Temple will be trained to go into Baltimore City neighborhoods this summer to patrol, mediate, and talk with youths about non-violence. In addition, the Empowerment Temple has been working with other churches and business owners to ensure that adolescents will have recreational and employment opportunities available to them throughout the summer.
Bryant has remained at the helm of the entire project, creating the campaign and seeing it through to fruition. He feels confident that "Stop Sinning" will be successful and is determined to "jump in front of the bullet" to save his city. And in order to save the city, says Bryant, "the church has got to go to the streets."
As full as his plate may be, the "Stop Sinning" campaign isn't the only event on Bryant's itinerary—in the coming months he will be traveling and speaking at various locations in the United States, the Bahamas, and Barbados. But loyal parishioners need not feel abandoned: Aside from his live broadcasts and downloadable MP3s, Bryant's inspirational messages can be sent to registered users via free daily voicemail messages. The man himself, though a little harder to reach, will certainly return home to Baltimore at the end of his travels, where the ministry began and continues.
—Saaret E. Yoseph, a former editorial intern, recently graduated from UMBC.
Bryant and his congregation have launched several programs aimed at chipping away at Baltimore's violent crime rate. The Empowerment Temple's congregation raised $30,000 to finance an aggressive gun buy-back on June 1. Firearms were accepted from gun owners, no questions asked, and purchased for between $75 and $250, depending on the type of gun. Also, in a component of the campaign known as the "Hood Invasion," volunteers from the Empowerment Temple will be trained to go into Baltimore City neighborhoods this summer to patrol, mediate, and talk with youths about non-violence. In addition, the Empowerment Temple has been working with other churches and business owners to ensure that adolescents will have recreational and employment opportunities available to them throughout the summer.
Bryant has remained at the helm of the entire project, creating the campaign and seeing it through to fruition. He feels confident that "Stop Sinning" will be successful and is determined to "jump in front of the bullet" to save his city. And in order to save the city, says Bryant, "the church has got to go to the streets."
As full as his plate may be, the "Stop Sinning" campaign isn't the only event on Bryant's itinerary—in the coming months he will be traveling and speaking at various locations in the United States, the Bahamas, and Barbados. But loyal parishioners need not feel abandoned: Aside from his live broadcasts and downloadable MP3s, Bryant's inspirational messages can be sent to registered users via free daily voicemail messages. The man himself, though a little harder to reach, will certainly return home to Baltimore at the end of his travels, where the ministry began and continues.
—Saaret E. Yoseph, a former editorial intern, recently graduated from UMBC.
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