In West Baltimore,young men are swapping weapons for a chance to become technologically savvy and learn skills that will help them find work
Laptops For Guns is a simple program making a broad impact in Baltimore. You find a gun, dust it off, and bring it to Lance Lucas CEO Digit All Systems and walk absent with a brand unique laptop. The exchange is held at the Urban League in West Baltimore and gains more popularity every year with support from the Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and a host of other local politicians. To date,Lucas is responsible for 89 guns being taken off the streets, and he plans on doubling that number this year.
I met Lucas, or whose personality towers over his 6 foot 3 inch frame,at a conference in Washington DC and rapped with him afterward. We swapped ideas on the negative issues that affect our community, and how we all need to evolve into more solution-based-thinking instead of agenda-less marches. “Laptops For Guns is only the tip of the iceberg!” he told me. “I just use that to get the community interested. whether you want the real story, or my man,reach check my program out when you’re back in Baltimore.”Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com