At five-years-old, Lyle Muhammad would put on his Easter suit, stand in front of the mirror and pretend to be mayor. Now age 59, he has no desire to be a politician, but still believes he’s destined to lead.
“Shaped and fashioned in the womb,” is the way he puts it. His mission is to advocate for peace through community activism in Miami just as Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream inspired a generation of Americans.
Back in 2012, he stepped into the role of executive director of the Circle of Brotherhood, a grassroots organization aiming to provide youth mentorship and create violence prevention programs. 11 years later, Muhammad’s leadership led to COB being awarded a $2 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Justice for violence intervention programs. The White House recognized him once again the following year when he took part in a ceremony hosted by Vice President Kamala Harris that highlighted community leaders who graduated from the University of Chicago’s Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy.
Even when the Trump administration froze $600,000 of those funds last April, Muhammad secured a $100,000 support grant from the Everytown Community Safety Fund, a subsection of the Everytown For Gun Safety nonprofit organization which provides national grants and support to other violence prevention centers.
Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, Muhammad was raised by a single mother who had him and his siblings from age 16 to 18. After spending some time in the foster care system, he found it difficult to protect himself from his destructive surroundings, bottling up his negative emotions and lashing out in class.
“By the time I was 13, I was kicked out of the whole state school system in Massachusetts,” Muhammad said. “They said I was a problem child, but I was literally a child with problems, experiencing the reality of being a young black child growing up in America and the trappings of everything from teenage pregnancy to absentee fatherism to crime and drugs and poverty and miseducation.”
It seemed he might spend his life falling into one, if not many of these outcomes, but his mother’s inspiration saved him, believing he was meant for something greater, he says.
Muhammad moved to Baltimore with his family shortly after being expelled in Massachusetts. He finished school and began working in youth mentorship before another change of scenery, this time moving to South Florida, in 2007.
Five years later, Circle of Brotherhood started almost completely by chance. Muhammad and several other anti-gun violence activists met in areas with the highest crime and murder rates. They discussed solutions to the violence with locals.
The organization also opened its Brownsville office in 2012 before growing and eventually becoming incorporated in 2014.
Circle of Brotherhood has also had a continued partnership with DJ Khaled’s We The Best Foundation. We The Best even gave COB a $10,000 grant in July of 2023.
“Our work in crime and gun violence prevention has been recognized all the way up to the White House. So we basically were known from the streets to the suites, we like to say,” said Muhammad.
He believes that in order to effectively help a community, and train others to do the same, one must treat it as a science. According to Muhammad, COB’s work is based upon social epidemiology.
“We just treat the community as a diseased community, and so the absence of disease is wellness,” he said.
To encourage wellness, COB hosts activities to help nurture both the body and the mind. Such activities range from Saturday morning line dancing classes with Coach D to powerful Tuesday night meetings with the community.
Circle of Brotherhood currently focuses on expanding in hopes that it can make a difference in every community. Its first chapter outside Miami, opened in Pompano in 2023, is a step towards that.
“The 1960s approach to crushing or condemning black leadership was murder and blackballing,” said Muhammad. “In the 1970s, the route changed somewhat to now to be based upon everything from classism, to separation, to drug use. In the 1980s is when we begin to experience the overwhelming epidemic of gun violence, crack cocaine and the heightened interest in the drug trade.”
“I mention that because we know that the Circle of Brotherhood is right on time,” He added. “We’re perfect for the conditions that our communities face. And we’ve also given an example to all people who want to learn how to work together, regardless of background and differences.”
