Former gang member “Silky Slim” to speak at Ville Platte church

The man known as “The Ghetto Messiah” will be coming to Ville Platte on Monday night.
Arthur “Silky Slim” Reed will be speaking at Ninth Baptist Church at 7 p.m. as part of Family Night of the Eastern Seventh District Baptist Association Youth Congress being held this coming week in Ville Platte.
The former gang leader and drug user is a radio and TV talk show host based out of Baton Rouge and will be promoting his message of STOP THE KILLING.
“I feel that is so appropriate that he will be here at this time to talk about these issues and for the community to stop killing,” Ville Platte Mayor Jennifer Vidrine said. “It is even more appropriate than ever considering the environment of violence across our nation right now.”
According to his biography on http://stopthekillinginc.org/?c=11&Home, Reed grew up in the Southside of Baton Rouge and by the age of fourteen was sentenced to the Louisiana Training Institute for Boys, now known as Jetson Correctional Facility for two counts of attempted second degree murder. After being released, Reed co-founded the 4 Down and Southside Wrecking Crews, which are credited with launching the gang violence that still grips Baton Rouge.
Reed would spend a dozen years between gang life and prison in Louisiana, before being sent to stay with his young brother in California. There Reed joined the Rolling 30’s Cripps gang and spent the next two-plus decades in out of prison in both California and Louisiana.
Reed’s life began to turn around following a automobile wreck in 2003 that took the lives of other passengers, except Reed who was wearing his seat belt. Reed states that he heard God speak, “I just brought you out of that, now what are going to do for me.”
Reed would go on to co-found Stop The Killing, Inc., a Baton Rouge based 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization established to stop the violence and senseless killing in our communities. Reed also serves as a youth counselor and consultant to youth court working closely with troubled youth and offenders, and teaching them how to deal with life problems without resorting to acts of violence.
Reed is also the publisher of STOPTHEKILLING newsletter and co-author of, STOP THE KILLING: Effective Communication Techniques To Avoid Violence and Senseless Killing (Stop The Killing 2007).