What happened to the code of the streets in Akron?
There was a time when these unwritten rules would have likely prevented the June 2 mass shooting that injured 27 and killed one at a birthday party in East Akron.
Violence against women and children was once forbidden during neighborhood dust-ups.
So was shooting into a crowd or a house where civilians – people not involved in a conflict – could get hurt.
But with mass incarceration, some say, there are not enough men living in city neighborhoods to teach young people – particularly young men – street code, or to dole out consequences for breaking the rules.
In Akron, Minister Stephen Muhammad has been trying to revive the code to stem the bloodshed.
Muhammad, part of the Nation of Islam, reached out to older men who turned around their lives to determine rules. He then put them in writing and into the hands of younger men who are likely to be involved in Akron violence, not only gang-related activity.
The “Street Codes” flyer shows a photo Muhammad took on Copley Road on Memorial Day in 2018. It shows the aftermath of a shooting, when people in a red Camaro exchanged gunfire with people in a parking lot.