A former gang leader and drug dealer is making big strides to change this community.
Delvin Lane was portrayed in the hit movie “The Blind Side” as the gang leader that almost lured NFL star Michael Oher away from the gridiron and towards a life of crime.
Oher made it out of the tough South Memphis neighborhood just fine and lane turned his life around. But everyone is not so lucky.
Do you know what the number one killer of black men ages 13 to 25 is?
Homicide.
Delvin Lane is trying to do something to change that.
Lane picked an interesting place to do this interview. In a shopping center parking lot right off E.H. Crump. Not only is it in the same neighborhood where he once roamed the streets as the leader of the Gangster Disciples.
“I saw a lot of drugs in my community rolling in the big cars and nice stuff and I wanted that,” Lane said.
It is also here where later this month he will come to remember his former mentee.
“Thomas was my guy,” Lane said. “I took him to summer camp every year. He was always at my house, doing bible study.”
He is talking about THOMAS STEWART, a 22-year-old man gunned down in Raleigh three years ago.
“I wouldn’t want anyone to feel that way. No one. No one deserves to lose their child,” mother Tessa Smith said.
So it is in a parking lot where Lane and Tessa Smith will come together for a peace rally on March 25th. The anniversary of Stewart’s murder.
Lane is all about peace.
“I’m an interventionist. I intervene and stop violent situations and to help kids from going down a violent path,” Lane said.
As the lead supervisor with the 9-0-1 Block Squad.
“You’ll see us on the crime scenes when someone is shot and we’re working the crime scene to see who is who. Is there any signs of retaliation so we can talk to both sides and try to get folks to stop shooting,” Lane said.
The 9-0-1 Block Squad was created by former Memphis mayor A C Wharton as part of his gun down campaign.
2016 has been rough. The homicide numbers are alarming, but they are honoring lane for the number of homicides that never happened because of him.
“You can’t save everybody, but don’t choose who you save,” Lane said.
He could not save “his guy” Thomas. But he can use him to help prevent another senseless murder.
