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>It's often too easy to define a sinner by their sin. I saw it >in the Baltimore riots where the truce between gangs was >dismissed in some quarters as a one off rather than an >opportunity to reach out. > >AKA when preachers stop preaching and start (really) >listening. > >http://www.vox.com/2015/5/27/8662887/boston-violence-jeffrey-brown > > >Boston preachers had a radical idea for reducing youth >violence: listen to young people's grievances, and address >their concerns with ideas that go beyond looking tough on >crime. And it worked. > >In a recent TED talk, Pastor Jeffrey Brown explained one of >the ways Boston brought down violent crime by 79 percentin the >1990s: by reaching out to the kids, teens, and young adults >who were committing crime. At first, Brown did this by walking >in some of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Boston late at >night with fellow clergy. "We did an amazing thing for >preachers: we decided to listen and not preach," Brown said. > >Over time, the young people began talking to Brown. "One of >the biggest myths was that these kids were cold and heartless >and uncharacteristically bold in their violence," he said. >"What we found out was the exact opposite. Most of the young >people who were out there in the streets are just trying to >make it in the streets. And we also found out that some of the >most intelligent and creative and magnificent and wise people >we've ever met were on the street, engaged in a struggle." > >What Brown learned is that these kids weren't turning to >violence because they were inherently evil people — they >were just trying to survive in a society that had offered them >few opportunities to rise out of poverty and other dire >circumstances. "I know some of them call it survival, but I >call them overcomers," Brown said. "When you're in the >conditions they're in, to be able to live every day is an >accomplishment of overcoming." > >After hearing these grievances, the clergy began bringing >groups and people together — including law enforcement and >the private sector — to build more comprehensive plans to >address youth violence. This meant not just locking up violent >criminals, but building new education and economic >opportunities for them, as well. > >“"When you're in the conditions that they're in, to be able >to live every day is an accomplishment of overcoming"” > >Brown explained that he didn't start out as a pastor intending >to work with a local task force to reduce crime, but he felt >drawn to the role when he saw rising youth violence >deteriorate Boston. "It got to the point where it started to >change the character of the city," Brown said. "The parents >wouldn't allow their kids to come out and play even in the >summertime because of the violence." > >One particularly gruesome murder caught Brown's attention. >Some of the gang members who were responsible for the killing >were around Brown's age at the time — but, as he explained, >"the gulf that was between us was vast. It's like we were in >two completely different worlds." > >This moment showed Brown that in all his sermons about >building community, he had neglected a widely marginalized >group of youth — the kind of adolescents who would fall back >on violence and crime because they genuinely felt like they >had no other option. > >"If I really wanted the community that I was preaching for, I >needed to reach out and embrace this group that I had cut out >of my definition," Brown said, "which meant not about building >programs to catch those who are in the fences of violence, but >to reach out and to embrace those who were committing the acts >of violence — the gang-bangers, the drug dealers." >
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FUCK DONALD TRUMP
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