CHARLOTTE - Oppression, institutional racism, and implicit bias have all been accusations thrown at the city of Charlotte.
However civil rights activists now say it's time for the minority community to take some responsibility of its own. Members of S.A.F.E Coalition NC met Saturday to discuss how to do that.
It's like the saying "Faith without works is dead."
"We can no longer wait for someone else to save us,” said NAACP President and S.A.F.E chairwoman Corinne Mack. “We have to save ourselves."
Some in Charlotte's black community feel it's been marginalized and pushed to the side for too long.
"When I tell you I am totally let down," said one Charlotte citizen who just moved to the Queen City.
Since 2013, S.A.F.E., or Safety, Accountability, Fairness, and Equity, has advocated for police accountability.
"There are harms in our community that are caused by institutions,” a SAFE group leader said. “Some of which, you could argue, are institutions that we control."
Since August, S.A.F.E. has been working on something called a "harm free zone" model.
It follows the ideal that if enough concerned black citizens are engaged, "we begin to see ourselves differently, begin to engage ourselves differently, and begin to collaborate," Mack explained.
She says that can only happen when black communities truly address black on black crime. "We have conflict resolutions that we want to teach," Mack said.
But she also says people can't pull themselves up without a little help from the city.
"I've already sat with city council and they know what the job program is,” she said. “Implement it," Mack demanded.
Saturday meeting was the 6th "harm free zone" building session.
"I hope for anything is that when we come together it's not just a bunch of talk," said one of the event goers.
Mack says the seeds planted there will result in real fundable, sustainable solutions. "This whole program is a long series of how we can do something that's going to build our community so that we look similar to a black Wall Street."