He was the leader of a gang that shot people in the street
Curtis Toler helps Chicago mobsters give up violence
Toller was shot for the first time when he was 12 years old.
archival
Toler gives advice to gangsters.
From the source
picture
Curtis Toler was once the leader of one of Chicago's most feared street gangs.
Now, he risks his life to convince others to abandon violence, turn to peace, and join his anti-violence organization.
Toler is the outreach director for Creed Chicago, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to reduce gun violence.
Toller gives advice to young men and women who have ties to gangs and whom the Chicago Creed Center is trying to get them to give up violence.
The center's ambitious goal is to reduce gun violence by 20% each year.
It seeks to identify not only who are the people most likely to be shot, but also who are the people most likely to pull the trigger.
Toller wears a T-shirt emblazoned with the word “Prayer” in rainbow letters.
He is a devout Muslim, who believes from the bottom of his heart that prayer changes people.
But he adds that "prayer without work means nothing."
When Creed Chicago launched in 2016, Toler was one of its first employees.
Former US Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, co-founded this non-profit organization, and said at the time, "If you want to end violence, you have to interact with criminals."
How are they provided with other alternatives to crime.
And it starts with individual recruitment.
Abandon violence
Once gang members renounce violence and join the Creed program, they receive a salary and take on jobs such as supportive, trauma therapists, life coaches, and job coaches.
Creed Chicago participants spend at least a year in the program before they are connected with potential employers in construction, culinary services, manufacturing and law firms.
When Wesley Addison joined Creed after giving up violence, the center helped him earn his high school diploma.
"I want my kids to get a high school diploma," says Addison, who is in his mid-20s and was imprisoned until recently. "I want them to own businesses and not make the same mistakes I did or go the way I did."
Addison describes how he has changed 180 degrees since joining Creed.
"It feels like I'm dreaming," he says. "I'm breathing better."
Youth join gangs
Toler was 12 years old when he was shot for the first time, and has been shot on four other occasions.
He knows very well the reasons why many young people join gangs, which Creed prefers to call "street organizations."
When Toler was 17, his mother was murdered by her husband, and he became enraged, taking a leadership position in his gang.
But Toller, who had served two terms in prison, realized that if he continued with this life, he would either be killed or imprisoned for a long time.
And he wanted to set an example for his young son, so he renounced violence and resisted temptations to return to it.
"Once you feel loved, you have the ability to love others, and once you are a father and a husband, you feel much better than being a gang leader," he says. "It was an easy transition for me."
Gun violence in Chicago, while still very high, is down in 2022. As of late September, 2,652 people have been shot in Chicago this year, 457 of them fatally, according to the city's official tally.
In mid-June, the center celebrated a peace treaty between two warring gangs.
“I really think we are going in the right direction,” Toller says.
For if we have no hope, what is the use of doing work?
Toller gives advice to young men and women with gang ties whom the Chicago Creed Center is trying to get them to give up violence.
Once gang members renounce violence and join the Creed program, they receive a salary and take on jobs such as supportive, trauma therapists, life coaches, and job coaches.
Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news