Geoffrey Canada rarely breaks a promise.

But by delivering the keynote speech at Syracuse University’s 19th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration on Saturday, he did exactly that.

‘I am in so much trouble being here,’ Canada said before the crowd of about 2,000. He had promised his wife years earlier that he wouldn’t travel around the country to speak about saving America’s children while his own child stayed at home.

The event, which began at 6:30 p.m. after many guests helped themselves to a buffet dinner, included a multi-part recitation of King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, a presentation of the 2004 Unsung Heroes and Heroines Awards and a performance by SU’s Black Celestial Choral Ensemble. Canada is president and chief executive officer of the Harlem Children’s Zone in New York City and author of ‘Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun: A Personal History of Violence in America.’

‘We were moved, inspired and motivated by an example that Dr. King set with his life and his sacrifice to his country,’ he said. ‘But there are pieces of his dream that we have to make sure still come to fruition.’

Most Americans don’t realize the crisis that faces the young boys in his country, said Canada, author of the 1998 book ‘Reaching Up for Manhood.’ At any given time, 12 percent of American men are in prison. Men are two-and-a-half times more likely than women to die in a car accident and four to six times more likely to commit suicide, he added.

‘That is just outrageous,’ he said. ‘We as a society can’t tolerate that and the conditions that produce these types of numbers.’

Canada contrasted these harsh realities with a lighthearted story about working with his wife on one of his books. She objected to a chapter he had included about sex, in which he wrote that something happens to boys after they have sex – something he couldn’t quite explain.

But his wife did not believe him, and worried about the sexual status of their young son.

‘And I told her, ‘Trust me, you’ll be able to tell,” Canada said.

When their son was 17 and suddenly refused to come home before his curfew, Canada said he told his wife, ‘Now, honey, that’s sex!’

Canada’s smile disappeared as he tied his story into the focus of his speech: Young men see sex marketed everywhere – in sneakers, clothing and tobacco.

‘But they have no idea what it means,’ he said. ‘We’ve got to reach out to these boys. They’ve got to be connected to good, solid men, who understand issues of fidelity, working hard, protecting their families.’

Without this connection, he said, men often turn to violence, and violence destroys both individuals and communities.

‘If violence is the response,’ he said, ‘then the civil rights movement will fall apart.’

While working within the Black Community Crusade for Children, Canada found the same crisis of violence in his visits to Pittsburgh, Detroit, Los Angeles, Boston, other major cities and even small Southern towns. Everywhere, children were killing each other.

‘How can it be that children, from one end to the other, at the same time can pick up handguns and kill each other?’ Canada asked. ‘I’ve never seen people die in the ways and numbers they were dying until I began to look at this issue in the ’80s.’

Canada began to investigate just what was happening in the streets, he said. The audience laughed when Canada recalled the memorable response of one young man.

‘He said, ‘Let me break it down for you: It’s rough out there,” Canada said.

But Canada said he did not truly understand the problem until he realized that the street code has changed. When he was young, fights between classmates only involved a few punches and bloody noses; today’s fights are rife with handguns and death.

The reason for this change is that adults no longer maintain their role of keeping children safe, Canada said. He argued that many children no longer have a strong familial support system.

‘We’re responsible for these young people, people whose conditions make it almost impossible to be part of the American dream,’ he said.

Each person must make a long-term commitment to saving at least one child, Canada said.

After a pause, Canada offered the crowd three challenges to save American children and provided a personal story to illustrate the importance of each. He first challenged them to provide children a sense of optimism – so many children, he said, have lost faith and have no hope.

‘You’ve got to have it before you need it,’ Canada said.

His high school football coach always showed optimism, Canada said, even when they lost every game of the season. Though he and his teammates joked about the coach’s ability to see only the positive, the message worked.

‘Someone’s got to be there with the young people to teach them optimism,’ Canada said.

The second challenge is to think outside the box, Canada said. He argued that too many college students learn how to spit out facts but never learn how to apply them in a useful, creative way. One of his professors had tricked him into using two textbooks to learn math problems – a trick that at first angered but then inspired him. The professor had made him think creatively by doing extra work with a different method.

Canada’s third challenge is to give opportunities to young people. If his first-grade teacher had not introduced him to Dr. Suess, Canada said, he might not have survived.

‘Poetry saved my life,’ he said. ‘For some it’s poetry, for some it’s dance, for some it’s sports. But we (have) to make sure children have opportunities.’

Canada closed his speech with a poem he had written to remind the audience of the power of love – especially love for children.

‘When you love all the children,’ he read, ‘there’s nothing to do, but start a small army of love, me and you.’

This poem and Canada’s other stories helped his speech connect with the audience, said Frank Esson, a senior public relations and economics major and president of the African-American Male Congress.

‘I thought that he was really funny,’ said Hannah Reyes, a sophomore art education major. ‘And I think that helped to make it really good.’

But Canada also delivered much more than humor and a message, Esson said.

‘I like the fact that he’s very community-oriented, and he’s not just talk,’ he said. ‘He practices what he preaches.’

Published on January 19, 2004 at 12:00 pm