The weekend of February 2nd through the 4th was the third official Ceasefire weekend here in Baltimore. Ceasefire is a grassroots initiative designed to promote peace, celebrate life, and remember those who have lost loved ones to violence in the city. During this Ceasefire there were discussions on the root causes of Baltimore’s violence, screenings of The 13th and Walking While Black: Love is the Answer, rallies, memorials and other events, similar and varied.
There were zero gun violence homicides for the weekend.
Throughout the nation, other cities plagued by community violence are developing their own new and unique ways to address this. One radical and controversial initiative is Advance Peace.
This clip from The Daily Show with Trevor Noah overviews Advance Peace and highlights the biggest backlash concerning the program: potential cash and travel incentives for qualifying participants. Note: the participants are the most lethal gun violence offenders in their city.
Advance Peace is an expansion of the Operation Peacemaker Fellowship founded by DeVone Boggan and originated in Richmond, California. Its aim is to purposefully engage the deadliest members in a community, and provide them with the resources and support systems to change their lives and break the cycle of violence. (You can check out DeVone explaining the origins of the program here if interested, the clip is a little under 30 minutes.)
The reporter for The Daily Show segment, Michael Kosta, voices the absurdity of the program to many:
“Your plan for lowering crime, is essentially bribery.” The clips shows the backlash of political pundits and citizens of Stockton, California, where the mayor is considering implementing an Advance Peace program.
It then moves to an interview with DeVone Boggan, who points to the 71% reduction in gun crimes in Richmond, California since its implementation there.
The reporter later asks two Advance Peace graduates, an important question: “What pays better, crime or no crime?”
The graduates express that the power of Advance Peace goes beyond the financial incentives. These rewards are merely tools to get to something far greater.
“The money is just the bait,” says Lavon Carter Jr. He later adds, “then when you get in they start to teach you real values, [explitive] that nobody in your life taught you before.”
It’s amazing because a part of this program uses economic incentives as a tool to humanize individuals, and lead them to wholeness, and draw them out of a life of crime and violence which is (at least in part) tied to economics in the first place.
“I’m learning most my issues had to do with economics
But my anger making me wanna go and do trigonomics true”
–Derek Minor, “Empire” from the album Empire
“Factory done closed, now a lot of people jobless
Now they got the drugs comin’ in from Nicaragua…
….Are you gonna sell drugs or are you gonna be homeless?
’cause the government’s not paying attention”
–Lecrae’s “Gangland” from Church Clothes 3
And Derek Minor again in the song “Stranger” also from Empire
“No jobs in our community, and people losin’ hope
Why you think he on that corner sellin’ dope? It ain’t for fun.”
(I’ll return to some of these ideas in a future post)
What I love about the sensation around Advance Peace is the focus on economic incentives to help broken people move closer to wholeness and opportunity. In doing so, these broken people become much less likely to break others.
Advance Peace is a beautiful picture of the grace we receive from Jesus Christ and the price He paid for us. We were sinners. He paid for our freedom so we could move into lasting relationship. It was an investment for us, and when we accept this, in us too. As we abide in Him, there are more gifts. As we abstain from sin, and live lives of righteousness, we grow in spiritual prosperity. We don’t deserve it, in any way at all. And it seems foolish. And He continues to intercede for us. This should lead us into greater appreciation, as it says in Romans 2:4 —
“…It is His kindness that leads us to repentance.”
The Daily Show clip shows the power of economic incentives in other ways too. About halfway through the clip the reporter storms out of his interview with Boggan after hearing about the transformative travel opportunities, saying that he can’t continue with this because he doesn’t agree with it and it “goes against who I am.” He is then confronted by The Daily Show check holder who tells him that he won’t get paid if he doesn’t continue. He agrees to go back in, takes his check, and then he is all for it. “I love it, I love this idea!” The bit is obviously staged, but the point is made, and built upon as he then goes out to promote Advance Peace to the former naysayers.
“But to convince the skeptics I would have to use everything Advance Peace taught me. Well, not the counseling and the phone calls and the GED but just the money part. You know?”
And when he offers the naysayers money, they begin to endorse it too.
Again, it’s a little staged, but it does speak some truth.
“You see, social change has a price, you just have to admit it’s worth the cost.”
Advance Peace shows how incentives can be used to give opportunities and bring people closer to wholeness. This is an incredible aspect of God’s character. I believe that Satan, and fallen man, have perverted this to great effect. In future few posts I plan to look at how economic incentives are used as a tool to dehumanize, tear down, and create more violence, not reduce it. This clip from Corey Paul tees it up perfectly.
The plan at the moment is to have a post about each of the following:
How you make a gangsta
How you make a stripper
How you make a dealer
How you make a killer
(With more songs too)
Next Ceasefire is Mother’s Day Weekend, but Ceasefire365 has events going throughout the year. Keep peace and wholeness for the city in your prayers.
Festival of Booths 
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