Memphis, TN – You can “be somebody” if you don’t join a gang. That is the message in a special video produced for elementary school students by the Gang Unit of the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office.  The video features Memphis Grizzlies player Lorenzen Wright, who graduated from Booker T. Washington High School and the University of Memphis. Wright chose not to join a gang while growing up in Memphis, and today he is a successful NBA basketball player.

The D.A.’s Office sent a copy of the video to every elementary school in the Memphis City and Shelby County Schools.  The goal is to have every elementary school student watch the video, which also includes anti-drug and anti-truancy messages.

“Gang influence is one of the most destructive forces working against our students in Memphis,” said District Attorney Bill Gibbons. “This video shows children an alternative to joining gangs.  They may someday face the choice of whether to join a gang, and this video illustrates how that one decision could affect their lives, positively or negatively,” said Gibbons.

According to the Memphis Police Department, the majority of gang members are males from 13 to 28 years old, but police are also seeing female subsets of existing Memphis gangs. Gangs are not only influential to students from disadvantaged and low-income areas.  Many middle and upper class children and teens are also involved in gang activity.

The “Be Somebody” anti-gang video was funded in part by a Federal Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grant. Earlier this year, the D.A.’s Office produced an anti-gang video for high school students. It was distributed to all high school principals in the Memphis City Schools.