Jerome Walker is more than just a 20-year employee at Loretto Health & Rehabilitation. He’s also the co-founder of an impactful grassroots organization in Syracuse that pledges to change and shape the lives of young African-American men, prepping them for a future that surpasses the textbooks they may be hesitant to pick up on their classroom desk, the front porch of their mother’s home they may never think of leaving, or the minimum wage cashier job they believe they are destined to always have. Jerome and his organization, 100 Black Men of Syracuse, are on a mission to show them there is far more to the future than that.
“A lot of them think ‘Why should I excel in school when C is passing, and I don’t see myself going any further in higher education?’ I try to talk to young people about the ‘Why?’” Jerome said. “Once I started giving children a knowledge of their culture and explained that they were once part of a great and mighty people, it changes their projection.”
100 Black Men of Syracuse is a local chapter of the national organization, 100 Black Men of America. Jerome, along with his fellow member Walter Eiland, conceived the idea for the establishment of the chapter after attending the 1995 Million Man March in Washington, D.C. The march itself was organized by American Religious Leader Louis Farrakhan with the purpose of bringing black men together for a day of unity at the National Mall, and millions of other Black Americans for a day of civic duties outside of their typical workday.
The local chapter in Syracuse would become an official chapter in 2007, having about 25 to 30 members all wanting to lift up young Black men in the city, while restoring a sense of community in its neighborhoods, something that felt lost with the deterioration of cultural appreciation. A lot of that is achieved through mentorship, education and acts of service. But, most importantly for Jerome, he uses the power of reading to show young African American children the importance of culture and education.
“Reading is so important. They city talks about gang violence and gun violence. But They don’t put enough emphasis on literature, cultural literature,” Jerome said, “If a young person can’t read. Usually what he’s going to do is be destructive in the classroom. That behavior problem is going to escalate until he drops out of school because he doesn’t want his classmates to know he can’t read.”
A lover of reading himself, Jerome isn’t just a founder for the 100 Black Men of Syracuse, he’s also the founder for Brilliant Young Minds Book Club, a reading program that he created in the Syracuse City School District’s Literacy Program. It works with children in grades four through six and introduces literature that is culturally relevant.
“The books help increase their level of reading while gaining knowledge and understanding about the African American culture.”
Jerome said his love of reading began as a child too and has helped him throughout his life in many of the ways he hopes it will help young people in his own community today.
“One day I was in class in the seventh grade and my teacher asked, ‘can anyone tell me about Martin Luther King Jr.?’ No one raised their hand, so I did and said, ‘he gave marches,’ because that was all I knew,” said Jerome, “But after that, something clicked with me. I said, ‘From this day forward, none of my teachers are going to know more about me and my culture than I do.’ I went to the library, and I started to read about my culture. I started reading a lot.”
Among some of his other accomplishments, Jerome also founded the Dr. John Hendrik Clarke Historical Study Group, a group that builds on adult cultural literacy. He’s also a member of the Syracuse Reads + Organization, dedicated to sounding the alarm about literacy in schools.
Thank you, Jerome, for letting us speak with you and learn more about 100 Black Men of Syracuse. We are grateful for the opportunity.