Philadelphia police, firefighters join anti-violence activists for "Peace Not Guns" basketball game
The competition was high for the Peace Not Guns Memorial Basketball game featuring the Philly Ballers — a team comprised of members of the police and fire departments, the sheriff's office and SEPTA police — vs. the Real Brothers Basketball League, a community anti-violence group.
The event featured a three-point contest along with five-on-five hoops.
City Council President Kenyatta Johnson started anti-violence initiative Peace Not Guns in 1998 following the murder of his cousin.
"If they are not involved in things that are positive during the summer, during the time when school is out, they get involved in things that are negative," Johnson said.
Albert Custis is the coach for the Real Brothers Basketball League, which hosts games for kids and adults throughout the week at 20th and Tasker streets.
"The basketball league (has been) going on for 10 years — no shootings, no fights, no nothing," Curtis said.
This event at Vare Rec Center is just feet from the site of a mass shooting that killed three people and left nine injured on July 7 along South Etting Street.
For Commissioner Kevin Bethel, events like this were an integral part of his childhood and now a way to help break the cycle of violence in his city.
"I'm a byproduct of the neighborhood, I'm a byproduct of Sherwood Rec Center and a PAL kid," Bethel said, "and I tell people all the time this is what got me out of the neighborhood."
And no matter the score, everyone's goal was the same: Pick up basketballs, not guns, making everyone on this court a winner.
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