We as a community owe a debt of gratitude to Brother Deloyd Parker and the SHAPE Community Center. For over 57 years, the historic institution has selflessly served generations of families. From the time I was in high school, I always enjoyed visiting the “United Nations of the ‘Hood” on Live Oak in third Ward. It was always filled with joy and buzzing with activities. If you visited from out of town, you had to stop by to tour the “Wall of Fame.”

Brother Deloyd would always take me into his office and pull out VCR tapes of the Historic 1995 Million Man March and other milestones that SHAPE has been a part of. I recently had the honor of interviewing him and his team at the Harambee Admin Building for AFRAM News to discuss the restoration campaign. Once he took a “break,” from the Elders Institute of Wisdom, he shared reflections and timeless jewels.

Here are a few: “It’s not about Deloyd; never has been. It’s about Us. That’s why we always say I am because we are; and because we are, therefore I am. There’s no me without you, no you without me. We’re all apart of a family of interdependence. We need each other.”

When you serve the people, you’re not going to lose.” “there’s no greater, no lesser. No major, no minor. Every organ is as equally important as the other but they got to work together.” Of course he started talking to me about the role of SHAPE in mobilizing the Million Man March. He excitedly recounted how he was honored to attend an organizing meeting with  e Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan at the Palace in Chicago.

I reminded him that I was a junior in high school at that time and stayed home from school on October 16, 1995. My mother and I were at the very same Harambee Building watching the Million Man March on a big TV positioned on the floor. The building was still under construction at the time yet we all enjoyed it. That moment shaped me.

Let’s all do whatever we can to support SHAPE. Let us unite. (Brother Qiyam is a member of the Nation of Islam under the leadership of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. He attends Muhammad Mosque No. 45 in Houston, Texas)