Over the past several months we have campaigned for men to complete an application to join the charter chapter of The 100 Black Men of America of Portland. The 100 has a thorough process for awarding chapters. Charters are awarded at the annual conference. This means that our charter would be presented in June 2013. Before a chapter is awarded a charter a number of criteria have to be met. The first of which is to have a minimum of 25 eligible men signed up. I am proud to report that as of today 40 men have completed an application. This indicates to me that with active participation of every man we should have no problem forming a very effective chapter of The 100 in Portland. Since I know all of you know at least one person that would be interested in joining this organization, I have every reason to believe we can increase this number significantly.

The best way to spread the world of what we are trying to do is for each of you to be an ambassador and talk about The 100 and how it can be a huge positive for Portland and to get more men to sign up. I have attached an application for you to use. Completed applications can be brought to a meeting of the Coalition of Black Men which is held the 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month at Reflections Coffee & Books, 446 NE Killingsworth from 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

I will be attending the 26th Annual Conference of The 100 in Atlanta on June 13-17. When I return I will prepare a summary of my experience and provide further detail on our journey to become a chartered chapter of The 100 Black Men of America. Below are the names of men that are showing their support.

Thank you for your support,

Ralph Evans
Chairman, Coalition of Black Men