GREENSBORO, N.C. — A judicial meet and greet held in Greensboro Sunday at the Triad Basketball Academy of Greensboro.
The event entitled 'It Takes A Village," gave attendees the opportunity to meet the judges running in the upcoming election. In addition, there was also a youth discussion and information session about drugs, gangs, and violence.
Guest speakers at Sunday's event included Police Chief Brian James, radio personality B Daht, rapper Eziekial Jiles, religious leaders, and several others.
A former gang member, Will Shakur, who is now a mentor, motivational speaker, and community advocate gave an impassioned speech to the teens about making poor choices which could cost them their lives and future.
Teens and parents who attended the event told WFMY about the challenges of gang influence.
"I see it every day everywhere I walk around classroom school is everywhere so I just try my best to stay away from that," said Cameron Flippen of Jamestown Middle School.
"I know it's not going to help me in life at all and I know that if I go down on that path, I'm probably not going to get to my dreams and stay engaged. So I try my best to distance myself from those and ignore the people who hate" said Flippen.
"Gang is a lot about leadership and sometimes black males are seeking that leadership, so I try to have a conversation that sometimes you have to be your own leader," said Alicia Bennett, a mom of two boys who attended the event all the way from Raleigh.
PHOTOS | 'It Takes A Village' judicial meet & greet
Chief Brian James said the department has seen a lot of "things with youth" that are "not positive".
Using his personal story of becoming a leader he told the teens about the importance of staying focused and productive.
"We're seeing a lot of things happening with our youth that is not positive especially with our minority youth, so we are looking at the rates of homicide and rates of disproportionate contact with the criminal justice system," said James.
"There are a lot of people in this community that they want to have a positive relationship with the police department and we want to do everything that we can do to make sure that happens and make sure that we are part of the community and a part of what's going on that is positive," he added.
Organizers of the event say it is a challenge to keep teens of today on the right track without enough funding and community support for recreation centers.
"Every day We have events here for the kids, all day, all week, seven days a week, keeping the kids off the streets and keeping them involved and engaged and doing something different," said lawyer Jason Keith.
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