Leon Benson's childhood friend Micheal Veal has changed his life around

Leon Benson's childhood friend Micheal Veal has changed his life around.  He has become an out spoken advocate of at risk teens to prevent  violence in the urban Flint, Michigan neighborhood he and Leon grew up,  where poverty, crime, drugs, & violence was a way of life for them.


Recently  Micheal reached out to Leon in prison. He wrote,"Hommie they want us to  fail, but we keep proving them wrong. You'er fighting for whats right  in prison and im fighting for whats right on the streets. Our hearts are  made of flint so they better not count out real brothas!"


Leon  is beyond supportive of Micheal's mentor work in their old  neighborhood. Leon wrote,"Who better to reach the youth than someone  like Big Veal who've already been down the bad path they're headed?  These teens out there wanna know if the person thats tryna help them are  authentic and sincere, before they listen to them. And Big Veal  embodies those unique qualities. Im proud of my friend for what he is  doing & how far he came. Yall support him out there!"

Below is an article about Veal's struggles and community work, get behind his effort to stop teen violence:
With bullet scars and street swagger, 
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2011/08/with_bullet_scars_and_street_s.html#cmpid=v2modk_be_smoref_twitt