'It Saved My Life': Man Up Club In Talks With MPD About Curbing Youth Gun Violence

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Early Sunday morning, two women were shot near Plymouth and Penn Avenues.

Later that day, a young man was injured by gunfire on West Broadway in North Minneapolis.

"We want to get ahead of this thing before it even starts," Korey Dean, founder of the Man Up Club, said.

The Man Up Club is a leadership organization for African American males ages 13 to 24.

"We teach them social skills, life skills, academic discipline, civic responsibility," Dean said.

Part of the program consists of interacting with police.

Tuesday, a group of young men will sit down with Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo.

"The chief needs to hear from young people. Young people are directly affected when it comes to youth violence. We talked with him before," Dean said.

This time, they'll ask questions that concern them. They'll ask questions that deal with violence, and how the lives of people who live in the community are often interrupted by gunfire.

"I just hope we all get them thinking, and get everybody in the room thinking -- not just the officers -- and anybody else who is there; not just ourselves," the Man Up Club's C.J. Selmon said.

These young men know it's all about relationships, and they're excited to establish one with the top cop in the city.

They say it breaks down barriers and helps get everyone focused on solutions.

"From the summer before, it was pretty bad and it's just no telling what this summer is going to be like," Tre Morgan said.

For many of these young men, Man Up saved them from the streets.

"I'm just thankful to be part of the Man Up Club because I don't know where I would be right now without it. So honestly, when I say it saved my life, I mean literally, it saved my life. Saved me from standing on the corner and doing God knows what," Morgan said.

The young men do not take the opportunity to engage in conversation with the Chief of Police lightly. They hope the conversation leads to action that actually saves lives.