“Transformation is our occupation,” says Paul. "Basketball is just the bait. It’s really about reaching young men, showing them their own humanity, teaching forgiveness—of others and themselves—and finding a way forward through that to define their own relevance."
The League for Safer Streets is a transformative movement empowering system-impacted individuals to reclaim their purpose, unite as change agents, and reshape their communities. Founded by Paul Taylor and Jawad Abdu, who served over 40 years combined for gang-related crimes in their youth, the League is a story of redemption and resilience.
Taylor and Abdu met while incarcerated in a Virginia maximum-security prison, where, despite being separated for years, they followed parallel paths of personal growth and leadership. Both vowed to break the cycle of incarceration and help others succeed after release. While in prison, Taylor mentored inmates in a re-entry program, eventually leading all state-mandated programming, and Abdu founded workshops on critical topics like conflict resolution, fatherhood, and PTSD.
Together, they co-created the RVA League for Safer Streets, a basketball league and empowerment program designed to connect former inmates with young adults and local law enforcement. With the motto “No Workshop No Jump Shot,” The League emphasizes personal development, offering workshops on life skills like critical thinking, problem-solving, and emotional intelligence—skills that help participants make better life choices and build stronger communities.
After Abdu’s release in 2016, and with Taylor contributing from prison, they partnered with Robert Morris, a pioneer of Richmond ‘midnight basketball,’ to launch the program in 2017. The first season was held in high-crime hours in Richmond’s public housing areas, and Taylor led the first workshop in person after his parole, on his 11th try, at the end of 2017.
What began as a shared vision behind bars is poised to grow into a nationwide movement to build a home for system-impacted individuals to feel valued and relevant, and to organize as agents of change in their communities, and of the public policies that impact their communities.
Safer Streets is something we all want, and it is the foundation for everything else we want.
The League calls for Safer Streets to let everyone know that returning citizens are hella big on public safety, and coming back to our communities to help eradicate some of the social ills that we helped create.
When returning citizens call for Safer Streets, it has the power to transform a political dog whistle used to divide us with fear into a community-led call to love ourselves and each other.
Safer Streets is what we get through lower crime
- when The League basketball program is in session;
- when The League helps those currently incarcerated be better prepared to come home;
- when The League makes returning citizens feel valued and relevant when it says, “Welcome Home!”
Safer Streets is what we get when we work with returning citizens and other system-impacted individuals to build a culture of repair and to change the narrative about the myth of who is dangerous and deserving.
Your support will transform lives and transform systems. Get in the game.
We are a 501c3 nonprofit organization based in Richmond, Virginia.
