Men were called to action last night and urged to stop talking about ills plaguing the community and take immediate steps to make a difference.Wayne Caines, one of the founding members of community action group Rise Above Bermuda, told a well-attended panel discussion on issues plaguing black men that community members needed to put their “money where their mouth was”.He said the Island would only be able to tackle some of its social issues like crime, gang violence and poor graduation rates if people took action.Mr Caines was one of four panellists at an event sponsored by the Men's Day Committee of St Paul AME Church.Martha Dismont, founder and director of The Family Centre, Government consultant Rolfe Commissiong, and Pastor Leroy Bean of community action group Cartel were also on the panel.They discussed a wide range of issues including education, racial barriers such as unequal economic distribution and opportunities and lack of positive mentors for black men.However, Mr Caines said the panel was not for the public's entertainment, but rather served as a tool to motivate everyone at St Paul AME Church hall to fight against the social problems.Mr Caines said it was time for everyone on the Island, particularly men, to stop talking and become a mentor to a young person in need.He said mentors could help young men find gainful employment, motivate them to reach their full potential or just show them they care.“Often times as a community we do not know how to action our words so we become very articulate at the barber shop and talk shows and in our homes.“But often times when it comes time to stand up and add a face behind our words, often times men very clearly find it very hard to make a public stand.“We need more men to be courageous and stick up for adversity and speak for the down-trodden in a public form where their words can find resonance.”Ms Dismont also had a similar message and challenged the community and Government to take each criminal offender and guide them in turning their lives around one by one.She said it was important to show everyone committing crimes some “unconditional love”.Ms Dismont also said the solution wasn't about removing the consequences for negative behaviours, but showing them how to better shape their lives.Llewellyn Simmons, Director of Academics in Bermuda's public schools, served as moderator for the talk, which touched on the church's role in the plight of black males on the Island.Mr Commissiong said there were too many churches concerned with spreading their religious message instead of helping people in need.He said in other countries churches opened their doors at night and gave homeless people a place to sleep.Pastor Bean agreed “that to some degree” the church had put up a facade that they were too spiritual to do the natural and basic things.He said the faith community had “put God in a box” and young people often felt God didn't care about their skills, didn't want them to have fun and was not intellectual.Instead of singing in the choir, he said the church had to return to bringing balance back to people's lives.Audience members had a chance to lend their voice to the issues, including a young CedarBridge Academy student who said the public often looked down on him because of the school he attended.He said: “Let's stop selling out our young black men. Give us a chance and opportunity to live up to [the standards].”Among the myriad of solutions proposed a woman said the Island's different communities needed to apologise to one another and forgive in order to heal.Another man in the audience said it was important to stop criminalising young males for possessing small amounts of marijuana.He said other countries like Canada, the United States and Britain saw the offence as a misdemeanor charge. However, the Island's young men were put on the stop list and constantly limited in their travel and educational opportunities because of a small issue.