The event was hosted jointly by Grow Dirt and We Must First Be Brothers (WMFBB), a Texas-based organization that teaches, promotes, and helps produce brotherhood among young Black boys and Black men. Community activist Louis Ali and Pastor Errol Domingue of Elm Grove Baptist Church led the local effort under the banner “Make Uptown Baton Rouge Great Again.” Michael Muhammad and J19, founders of We Must First Be Brothers, traveled from Texas with a group of young participants to support the initiative.Boys as young as 10 years old were registered by their parents or guardians for the skilled trades class. Many of those adults brought the youth to the site, stayed throughout the day to help, and watched as Grow Dirt and We Must First Be Brothers trained the participants. The ages of those who took part ranged from 10 to 20 years old. Registration was simple: all participants needed to do was sign up via the Grow Dirt website and bring a pair of rubber boots, gloves, and eye protection.“If we equip our youth with skilled trades, farming, fishing, and hunting, they can rebuild our inner-city communities from the inside out,” organizers stated.Participants arrived at the Grow Dirt site on Cunard Avenue by 5:30 a.m. on July 30 to prepare for a 7 a.m. concrete pour. Before work began, Pastor Domingue and Student Minister Michael Muhammad of the Nation of Islam led a prayer circle based on Psalm 127: “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.”Louis Ali then guided the group in reciting the Optimist Creed and coached the young men and boys through each stage of pouring 4,000-psi concrete. Parallel instruction came from elder gardener Lanie Vernon Jr., who taught participants how to plant tomatoes, cucumbers, and snap beans.By noon the pour was complete. Workers shared lunch from a local Black-owned food trailer. That evening the group gathered at Elm Grove Baptist Church for a live “We Must First Be Brothers” podcast discussion and roundtable. Activities continued July 31 with a morning coffee discussion, a barbershop dialogue at Furious Stylez, and fellowship at Throw Dat Dirt ATV Park.Photographs from the event show intergenerational teams in safety gear working side-by-side, young participants holding copies of the book We Must First Be Brothers: 100 Key Principles by Michael Muhammad, and families posing on the site.
Organizers frame the work as part of a regional shift among Southern Black Americans away from the integration-focused model associated with the civil rights era of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and toward the self-help approach of Booker T. Washington and Elijah Muhammad—summarized as “Do for Self.” The aim, they say, is to make their own communities safe and decent places to live, work, and play through practical skills, mutual accountability, and brotherhood rather than dependence on external systems.We Must First Be Brothers emphasizes intergenerational connection, discipline, and shared labor as the foundation for stronger families and communities. The Baton Rouge event combined physical skill-building with spiritual grounding and public discussion, leaving participants with both concrete trades experience and the movement’s core principles.Local, regional, and national media are invited to contact We Must First Be Brothers or Grow Dirt for photographs, interviews, and follow-up coverage of similar efforts across Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana.
