And as he works to exert a positive influence on the lives of pliable young men under his charge, he challenges the scouts to take that message outside the boundaries of the troop itself. I want to make other boys follow them, and for them not to follow others. The challenges remain The list of challenges facing black Americans today is different from those facing King and other pioneers when they began their civil rights work decades ago. Blacks are Congressmen, CEOs, independent businessmen and supervisors in work places they were once only considered as potential laborers. But problems remain, lingering prejudices among them.
Some doors are still closed.
And some of the most serious problems are those within many predominantly black communities themselves - the prevalence of drugs, crime, children often growing up with little direction or good role models. Fortunately, there are havens like Sandy Ridge AME Zion Church and Boy Scout Troop 373. We suspect Dr. King was never made aware of the scout troop that met weekly in a hut behind the East 29th Street, Kannapolis, home of Scout Master Frank Long at the time an assassin claimed the civil rights leader's life. Had he been, he would certainly have liked what he saw. Being one himself, he would have recognized other heroes immediately.