Anthony is our January 2020 Featured Giant. He is an activist and executive member of Circle of Brotherhood, a Miami based organization of Black men working to make their communities safer, stronger places. Check out our full interview with him below!

Jenny Kearney: How did you first get into activism?

Anthony Blackman: In 2012, I met a guy called Leroy Jones who’s been a community activist for a long time. It was Leroy who introduced me to the Circle of Brotherhood. At the time, the organization had just started out and I became their sixth member. From that point on the organization started to grow and with it, my involvement grew. We started doing serious work because we wanted to make a difference as Black men in our own community, and we wanted to approach our situation from a practical standpoint and take full responsibility for the conditions of our community.

JK: And what is the Circle of Brotherhood?

AB: The Circle of Brotherhood is an organization of Black men, best described by our motto: Black men solving our own community’s problems. In 2019 we ran 105 events in our community.

JK: What has been your most important accomplishment as a community leader?

AB: Last year we went on a 21 and 1/2 day hunger strike to protest gun violence in our community. We slept outside in tents, had no food, and during that time we hosted a lot of workshops with students – elementary, middle school, high school, college – politicians, police cadets, lawyers; everyone. That was the most powerful thing that I’ve done. To sacrifice my body, my life, for the sake of stopping gun violence in my community. That was by far my greatest accomplishment.

JK: What have you been working on recently?

AB: I’m in the music business. In the Circle of Brotherhood I head the entertainment division. Last year, I went back to school and obtained my audio engineer certification. I am currently a certified engineer, a producer, a songwriter, and I own my own company called Black Man Music Group, Inc. Black Man Music Group, Inc has just secured a contract with Miami Dade public schools. We have an opportunity for Blackman Music Group, Inc & Circle of Brotherhood to expose high school students to Miami Dade Technical College careers. That contract was signed last year and we are really excited about this opportunity for Circle of Brotherhood to be doing community outreach in these high schools.

JK: What types of opportunities will you be talking to students about?

AB: Mainly about technical colleges. Miami Dade technical colleges have 70 specialized certifications and students can go and obtain them in a year or less. They can apply for a Pell Grant if they qualify and wouldn’t even need to take out student loans. We have come to find that a lot of Black children are not going to traditional colleges anyway, because they can’t afford it. Even when they can afford it, it’s often a huge strain on their parents who are already working 2-3 jobs. We want to let the children know that there are opportunities for education here in Miami Dade County. Some of these certifications actually pay more than if they get a 4-year degree. At Black Man Music Group, Inc we strive to educate, inspire, and entertain through music. We are excited to go into these schools and use hip hop to identify with the kids and communicate with them.

JK: What is something you wish everyone knew about your work?

AB: I’ve been part of this organization [Circle of Brotherhood] for 8 years, and last year we received our first piece of money to operate and hire a staff of 12-15 people. Up until that point, we were working on a volunteer basis only, what we call ‘sweat equity’. What we’ve been able to accomplish with no money is nothing short of a miracle. When I think about it, it’s like “how in the world did we accomplish so much with no money?” It just lets me know that I’m doing the right thing. I believe that if we had resources then we could really, really change our community. That would be one thing that I would want people to know. Some people think we’re rich! They think we have a lot of money. They don’t know we’re doing it on sweat equity just because we love our community, and we’re not about to stop until our community becomes a safe place to live.

JK: What can people start doing today to support your work?

AB: Obviously we cannot stress enough that we need financial resources. We are a 501 (c)(3), and anyone who wants to financially support us or help us in any way can know their money is going to a good cause. The next thing I want people to do is to just share stories about us and talk about us; to use their platform and resources to highlight what we’re doing. Last year, when 9 of us went on a hunger strike, we had to leave everything; our wives, our jobs, everything. Some of the guys lost their jobs. I got kicked out of school, and I had to use my money to pay for an extra semester because of it. Some of the guys were told by doctors that they shouldn’t even be considering doing a hunger strike. We sacrificed everything and asked for nothing. We were just here having a conversation with our community. You would have thought that this would be national news and that everyone would know about it. But to be honest with you, Black men doing positive things in their community isn’t big news. If we were there doing violent things, if we were out there rioting, it would’ve been all on TV screens all over the world.

JK: Is there anything else you want to add about the Circle of Brotherhood or your work?

AB: What we always say is that the brotherhood has brothers from the streets and brothers from the suites. That’s what’s so powerful about the unity we have. We have some guys who have never been in trouble, never seen the back of a police car, and we have some who have done 25 years in prison. I grew up in juvie, I was strung out on crack at 13, and I’ve been in gangs. I’ve been to a doctor who labeled me bipolar schizophrenic. The reason why I go so hard at this work is that this is me paying my debt back to my community. I happen to be a street guy who changed his life and my life’s mission is to give back, so that’s what I’m here to do.

To learn more about Anthony:

Youtube: Blackman Music Group, Inc.

IG: @blackmanmusicgroup & @circleofbrotherhood

Email: blackmananthony4@gmail.com