Street Action Network

Street Action Initiative is a research initiative led by a team with lived experience and high social capital in the streets that will harness the power of youth and street culture to end gun violence. Gun violence disproportionately affects Black and Brown neighborhoods in New York City, where young Black men are 88 times more likely to be shot compared to young white men, according to an analysis by Vital City. The Street Action Network is built on the knowledge that the people and communities that experience high rates of gun violence are also the ones with the power and expertise to craft solutions and drive lasting change. 

People closest to the problem are closest to the solution, but furthest from power and resources.

 — Glenn E. Martin, justice reform advocate 

Co-directors Javonte Alexander and Basaime Spate will rely on their decades of lived experience as gun violence survivors and members of street networks to lead the Street Action Network. Over the past six years, Alexander and Spate have helped run several large-scale gun violence research projects in Brooklyn, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Wilmington, Del., using an innovative participatory action research model, first coined by Dr. Yasser Arafat Payne of University of Delaware. The model brings the community into every aspect of the research, including designing research questions, recruiting participants, analyzing the data, disseminating the results, and taking action on the findings to bring about real, community-led change. Building on a foundation of this groundbreaking research, the Street Action Network will harness the power of youth and street culture to lead gun violence prevention research into a new era.