The HeadBangers Boxing Gym in Southwest Washington, D.C. will be hosting a special summit on January 18 to give a certain message to the American youth: There is an alternative to solving your problems with violence. Guns Down Gloves Up.
“Every argument or disagreement doesn’t have to end with gun violence. There are other ways to get your issue off,” the event brief says, adding that there is a better method: Guns Down Gloves Up.
Behind the summit are Jerell Brown, owner of the SML Services Landscaping Company, and Andre Thomas, who runs Gladiators of Success, Inc.
Brown personally helped two of his employees solve their dispute by offering them to have a boxing match together, which resulted in the pair reaching peace and respecting each other.
“I think people need to get their aggression out some type of way,” Brown said in an interview with WUSA9. ” Some people do it through writing, some people do it through music, some people do it through gun violence, but I wasn’t having that on my watch.”
That incident inspired Brown for organizing the Guns Down Gloves Up Summit to share his experience with youth so that they can benefit from the idea and avoid resorting to gun violence to solve issues.
The two men want their method to be “proactive” rather than reactive in terms of preventing gun violence.
The organizers will provide live boxing demos, as well as other ways to battle against gun violence such as workshops on financial literacy, job readiness, on site interviews, resume building, mental health awareness and more.
The free event, which also features a job fair, will run from 11:00 a.m. through 4:00 p.m. You can register through Eventbrite.
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