Joe Marshall on keeping kids ‘alive and free’

About a quarter-century ago, Joe Marshall noticed something about the neighborhoods on the east side of San Francisco. Many of the teenagers living in the projects of Potrero Hill and the Bayview were dropping out of school – and worse: “It’s pretty tough to have a kid get an ‘A’ in geometry at the age of 13, and be dead by the age of 20,” Marshall said. He could have turned away and gone about his life, but instead, he chose to get involved.

In 1987, he founded the Omega Boys Club. Since then, Marshall says at least 150 Omega kids have graduated from college. Marshall says his program is helping young people stay “alive and free,” while bridging the gap between the police and the community.

Joe Marshall spoke with David Onek, who is a senior fellow at the Berkeley Center for Criminal Justice. 

A longer version of David Onek’s interview with Joe Marshall is available here.