Essay 1556

From The Washington Post…

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Brokering Peace

In neighborhoods where violence is rife, Peaceoholics confront troublemaking youths to persuade them to settle their beefs nonviolently.

By Robert E. Pierre
Washington Post Staff Writer

Word raced through the wide hallways at Roosevelt High School in Northwest: Troublemakers would be showing up after school. And they’d be bringing guns.

Police were on notice outside the gate as Jauhar Abraham walked up. “Peaceoholics?” asked a security guard, waving him through to the office where his partner, Ronald Moten, huddled with students and worried administrators.

Fights had erupted throughout the day: One student was said to have lost teeth. A brawler wanted a ride home to avoid being jumped. Across from the main gate, a dozen teenagers sat on rowhouse steps as two girls recounted the fight.

Abraham and Moten approached the group and asked if there would be more trouble. Spotting a teenager who had previously tried to sneak a gun into the school, Moten’s tone remained light even when the boy confirmed his fear: He had a gun.

Moten looked the boy in the eye, leaned in and whispered so no one could hear: Don’t start anything stupid, or you’ll go to jail. The two shook hands. The teen shifted for a moment, made eye contact with his friends and turned to leave. The others followed.

Another crisis averted by Peaceoholics.

Moten, 37, and Abraham, 38, are the brains behind Peaceoholics, a grass-roots nonprofit group that confronts young people with reputations as killers and persuades youths to settle their beefs peacefully. The men have learned to toggle between the streets and the establishment without losing credibility in either world.

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