Gloves Not Guns celebrates 20 years of anti-violence advocacy in Pine Bluff

PINE BLUFF, Ark.- Pine Bluff organization Gloves Not Guns has been advocating for anti-violence in the community for 20 years by giving youth an activity to put their time into.

Coach Albert Brewer began leading the organization in 2004, encouraging youth like Chandler Wright to put the guns down and pick the gloves up.

“We don’t use violence, we just use our hands,” Wright said.

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Brewer said after living in Pine Bluff for so long, he’s wanted to give the youth a place to release.

“There’s a lot of aggression in the streets, I mean plenty of it,” he said. “This is just another avenue to challenge that aggression.”

Brewer said he’s able to show up as the mentor needed, growing a special bond with each member.

He said the group has faced their own hardships with violence

“When you see them come through the program and then months later, they get killed in the streets,” Brewer said. “That kind of takes a toll.”

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He said saving the youth from the streets has become his purpose, and he couldn’t do it without his instructor.

This year the group is looking forward to hosting the Arkansas State Junior Boxing Olympics Tournament on May 3 and 4 at the Pine Bluff Convention Center.

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