300 Men March: 'We must stop killing each other'

Construction is underway as the group 300 Men March, an anti-violence group, has big plans for a large part of east Baltimore.

 

Their goal has been building their message in a city where it's desperately needed. Friday night, following a week punctuated by an especially gruesome week, members of the 300 Men March are marking the streets in the name of anti-violence.

 

"We do it in the places that need it most. In the places where we are seeing the most homicides," said the group's leader Munir Bahar.

 

Friday was their first time out from their new headquarters located on the city's east side. Construction began in April, and has taken much of Bahar's time, so Friday was also the group's first time marking, putting up posters on vacant homes in months.

 

"We are in a state of crisis, and we have to stop killing each other," Bahar said.

 

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After buying a set of vacant row homes, it's been months of hard work to renovate. Bahar will use the new space to continue to lead COR health, a program that teaches life and fitness skills to youth while molding them into men. The new headquarters will include a classroom and a martial arts studio.

 

"To sit in a state of the art classroom, I think that really enhances a child's ability to learn," Bahar said.

 

Bruce Durant, who lives next door, said he did much of the same work years ago, walking the neighborhood with police and members of his church. He called Bahar's group a welcome addition.

 

"I'm just waiting to see what they're going to bring to the neighborhood," Durant said. "Really there's no, what you call, real men in the neighborhood."

 

And so, Friday, they walked, declaring the killing must stop.

 

"Regardless of what incidents are happening, this message has to be consistent," said Bahar.

 

Bahar said Friday, he closed on a couple of new row homes down the street from their headquarters, where he's planning on turning them into a home for young men to turn when they have no place else to live.