THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 23, 1996 TAG: 9601230246
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHARLISE LYLES, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 121 lines
The morning sky outside Tom Taylor's office window at Ford Motor Credit Co. is unusually blue - as clear as on the chilly October morning of the Million Man March.
Just as clear is the march-inspired vision the branch manager lays out. He tempers the passion of that moment with eloquent, carefully chosen words, speaking with a kind of corporate grace.
``The Million Man March - I'm just amazed about that day - African-American men saying that we need to make some corrections in our lives and the whole world will be better for it,'' says Taylor, shivering with awe, shaking a well-barbered, silver-flecked head.
``I came back with a desire to do more in the community. I talked to friends about it. I prayed about it.''
Feb. 14 is the answer to his prayer. It'll be a different kind of Valentine's Day.
He is asking all Hampton Roads houses of worship - churches, mosques, synagogues, temples - to host town meetings. The theme: ``How to stop the violence and start living life to its fullest.'' He hopes the day of discussion will lead to hundreds of neighborhood volunteer action plans designed to prevent juvenile delinquency and promote family values.
Taylor's efforts have taken the cause of the Million Man March from the streets to corporate suites. While dining at the tony Town Point Club, he discussed plans. He won support from Ford higher-ups. His Greenbrier offices are a contact point for interested clergy.
Other march-motivated projects like Taylor's are afoot throughout the country. All endeavors flow into a burgeoning national citizens movement in which everyday people have stepped in to cure community ills when government has failed.
Taylor did more than pray, he got on the telephone. He called his mother. She gave the day of dialogue her hearty and savvy - she knows people - blessing. Then he called police departments, schools, churches.
And he called his corporate colleagues. They rallied to support. They respect the guy. After all, between 1988 and 1992, he moved the credit bureau's return-on-equity ranking from 138th to second in the nation. And he's holding steady in the top 10.
Citizens for SAVE (Stopping Acts of Violence with Education) was born. With Taylor as chairman, it is the mobilizing force behind Feb. 14. An eclectic crew that unites business and grass roots, SAVE includes a Park Place community activist, preachers and dealership owners such as Conoly Phillips of Lincoln Mercury, and a Norfolk council member.
Says Ray Bunch, president of Budget Rent A Car and SAVE co-chair, ``What we want is the domino effect where many things will spring from this. The purpose of the march was for people to take responsibility.
``It's about values,'' Bunch said. ``Everybody can do it right at their dinner table, or pick up a kid, pat him on the head and say, `Hey, I love you.' ''
All SAVE has asked of government is a bit of moral support. U.S. Sen. John Warner, state Sen. Ken Stolle, and delegates Robert McDonnell, Ken Wardrup and Harry Purkey have endorsed the day of dialogue.
The church seemed a natural community clearinghouse to Taylor, the son of a minister.
Long before the march, Taylor had wondered why churches hadn't organized ``to stem this tide of violence.''
But clergy, such as members of the Tidewater Baptist Metro Ministers Conference and the Rev. David Slayton of Green Run Baptist Church, are revving up for Feb. 14 and beyond.
``I have a strong conviction that if the issues of violence are going to be adequately addressed, churches are going to have to come together across denominational and racial lines,'' said Slayton.
The churches' enthusiastic response has eased frustration Taylor once felt about congregations that appear oblivious to bloodstained sidewalks just outside stained-glass windows.
As a boy, he watched his father work tirelessly to build New Emmanuel Baptist Church in Newport News and outreach ministries.
The Rev. Dr. Charles C. Taylor drove a grocery store truck on weekdays. He preached and saved souls on Sundays.
``I always regard him not as my best friend, but as my hero because he inspired me,'' Taylor said. ``He didn't finish high school, but went back. I call him a self-made man.''
From I.C. Norcom High School, Taylor went on to Norfolk State University to study business administration.
After graduating, he went to Washington, D.C., where he was an assistant branch manager for Virginia National Bank, now NationsBank.
He joined Ford credit operations in Northern Virginia, then moved on to Michigan headquarters where he advanced in the ranks, then on to Cleveland. Fourteen years after Taylor left Tidewater, he got that yearning for home.
In 1988, when Taylor returned with his wife, Joan, and two daughters, he saw urban ills creeping south, tainting the quality of life in his beloved home.
``The same things that had happened in other major cities I'd lived in, the gangs, the killings, were coming here if we didn't do something about it,'' he says. ``When I went to the Million Man March, I knew I was going to do something differently.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Tom Taylor got the idea from attending the Million Man March in
Washington.
Graphic
AGENDA
On Feb. 14, Citizens for SAVE is asking area places of worship
to:
Host a town meeting at your church, synagogue, temple or mosque
at 8 p.m. The topic: ``How to stop the violence and start living
life to its fullest.'' The long-term goal: To plan and execute your
own anti-violence, action agenda.
Urge participants to volunteer for Big Brothers/Big Sisters,
Adopt-A-School, Boys and Girls Clubs and other school tutoring
programs. Have a list of programs and contacts on hand.
Organize a follow-up committee to monitor and manage any proposed
plan.
Involve youth in every level of this process.
Students can win a $200 U.S. Savings Bond for the winning essay,
poem, rap or art based on the topic.
For more information, call Nora Willoughby at Ford Motor Credit
366-5501, fax 424-9827, or Amy Parker at Budget Rent A Car 855-1038,
fax 855-8901.
by CNB