Rev. Jeffrey L. Brown serves as associate pastor of the historic Twelfth Baptist church in Boston, one of the oldest African American churches in the nation. Rev Brown is also one of the architects of the Boston Miracle, a proven successful methodology that is being replicated across the country and around the world to reduce gang violence.

Rev. Brown spoke with Rev. Jim Wallis about his work to save young black lives. "If you have people straining to live under the weight of a system that seeks to constantly dehumanize, then it doesn't matter how much training the police will get," said Rev. Brown. "You will always have a city who will look at communities of color as less than the other parts of the city."

Brown continues, "I committed myself to this work because Black lives matter. And I really believe it's biblical. Look at the Luke 15 parables. You had a sheep and one of them is lost. The shepherd went after the one, then the 99 could cry, 'Well, what about us? Don't we matter?' But they're not the one that's in danger. And so that life mattered and in that respect, we're living in an age where people are starting to understand if a Black life doesn't matter, then my life doesn't matter. If a Black life matters, then all of our lives matter."

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