San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Oakland athletes try to help stem violence
Marshawn Lynch began his NFL career in Buffalo and won a Super Bowl in Seattle. Josh Johnson has spent time with 11 NFL teams over the past decade. Marcus Peters was drafted out of college by the Chiefs and made two Pro Bowls in Kansas City.
But the three Oakland natives have never lost a connection with their hometown, which is why each spent Wednesday evening at the Impact Hub Oakland co-working space, participating in a forum on community interests and
violence prevention.
The forum, titled “CourseCon: Oakland,” was moderated by Bishop Omar Jahwar, founder of Urban Specialists, a Dallas-based nonprofit that aims to effect change in communities of high crime and poverty.
Jahwar previously worked as a gang interventionist, going into state prisons in Texas to speak with gang members. He started Urban Specialists with a similar goal of curbing violence and strengthening community ties. His strategy includes a mix of what he calls “intrusive programs” — going into schools, churches and other institutions to generate and facilitate discussion — and “invasion of culture,” recruiting influential community members to the cause.
“Most people believe when they’re in some type of ferocious situation, they’ve got to go down to the level of the situation,” Jahwar said. “You’ve got to go up, rise above that situation. Our role is, we can teach you how to do that, and then teach those others who want to help you.”
Jahwar has introduced his program in areas of Dallas, Atlanta and Baton Rouge, La. In January, Urban Specialists held a panel discussion in Dallas that included Peters. Jahwar said Peters and Lynch approached him about expanding to Oakland.
The two-hour discussion attracted a sizable crowd — despite Game 3 of the NBA Finals happening at the same time — with speakers including athletes (NFL players and former track and field Olympian John Carlos), activists, people affected by violence and former gang members now speaking against the lifestyle.
Johnson and Lynch, both 32 and former teammates at Oakland Tech, helped launch the Fam 1st Family Foundation, a youth outreach program in Oakland, a few years ago. Johnson said the idea had taken shape after the two left Oakland for the NFL and saw the “big disconnect” in opportunities being presented to youth in underprivileged areas.
“Every time I go talk to a group of kids it’s athletes, rappers,” Johnson said. “That’s all they see, all they know. So it’s trying to get them to understand, take that same focus, that same want-to, and apply that to anything, because you’re capable.
“That’s why we do programs that touch on other lanes that Oakland kids are not generally exposed to — architect, coding, business at a younger age. Just getting them to understand the whole cycle of everything.”
Peters, 25, who attended McClymonds-Oakland, said he was motivated to return to and get involved with the community after seeing Johnson and Lynch do the same.
“A lot of people go through this (NFL) process and they don’t ever come back home, they don’t give you the same love, genuine love,” said Peters, who was traded to the Rams in March. Peters said he’s glad “to be able to know that I can always go home and be around these kids, and be that positive role model that these kids need me to be.”
Lynch, who rarely speaks to the media, remained mostly silent during the panel discussion. But he greeted and talked to attendees for nearly an hour after the panel ended. Jahwar said he is impressed by Lynch’s relationship to Oakland.
“He may have left these neighborhoods, but those neighborhoods never left his heart,” Jahwar said. “There’s nothing better than saying, ‘I’ve been where you are, now you can come where I am.’ Making hope accessible is a brilliant thing. And he does that so well. It’s uncanny how well he does it.”
As part of the event, Johnson was presented $6,000 in grant money for the Fam 1st foundation, which he said will go toward outreach programs such as the foundation’s annual football camp and its youth center.