Vegas Don knows these Durham streets

Vegas Don says he shot 17 of his own people while selling cocaine as the leader of a notorious Durham street gang. 

 

 

In 1987, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison for shooting at someone, but the conviction was overturned in 1992. His life and way of life is featured in “Welcome to Durham”, a 2007 documentary about gangs in Durham. The film placed Durham on the national radar as a small town with a gang problem. 

 

 

Vegas Don’s real name is Otis Lyons. His name change is reminiscent of a biblical Damascus Road experience. Things radically shifted after he went to prison. He started Campaign4Change, a nonprofit working to deter young people from the life he once lived. Lyons says he stopped dealing dope to become a hope dealer.

 

 

Durham needs massive hope. Last year, 318 people were shot, and 33 people died. Close to 100 people have been shot so far this year. With mounting gun violence, Mayor Pro Tem Jillian Johnson, Council members Charlie Reece, Pierce Freelon and Javiera Caballero are supporting a plan to shift 60 police department vacancies over a three-year period into a new community safety unit. The new unit promises to offer mental health and other alternatives to law enforcement.

 

 

Durham Beyond Policing, a grassroots campaign to divest from policing and prisons and reinvest funding into supporting health and wellbeing of Black and Brown people, is spearheading the Durham defund police movement.

 

 

The Rev-elution asked Lyons for input regarding police funding, gun violence and public education. When asked if anyone on the city council has reached out to discuss his thoughts, he answered no.

 

 

Lyons offers a balanced approach. He advocates for alternative solutions to law enforcement while understanding the need for more police in the streets.

 

 

“You know you can’t have two cops being sent to all the projects,” Lyons said. “All the projects got gangs. All the projects got shootouts. So, you can’t say not more police. I just think the traditional way of funding and how they’re doing it needs to be looked at. You know the reason why crime is continuing to grow. It’s simple. We could keep doing the same old things, talking the same talk and not bringing the right people to the table.

 

 

Lyons says it would help to pay gang members to come to the table to discuss ways to reduce violent crime and that secret incentives will help people feel safe in sharing what they see every day.

 

 

“If you got four or five kids on the block, and you know they got guns and you know people are not saying anything, we need to try to encourage people in some type of way, some type of new program to give some revenue to call the police and say hey these young people are playing games, that they got guns. It takes stuff like that to get the community more involved.”

 

 

It’s been more than 20 years since Lyons started Campaign4Change. He says the young people who were on the streets gang banging before he changed his life are now the parents of the kids he’s dealing with today. In 2009, Lyons released a DVD to help parents deal with the reality of life in the streets.

 

 

“It's almost like if you put a kid in a rat cage, which in our case they put these kids in the projects. You got five rats in a cage, and when you put one piece of cheese in that cage, and let's say eight days later they'll kill each other to get their piece of cheese,” Lyons said.  “It’s what is happening to our kids. They can get some money and they’re fighting for territory, and it's almost like that's the piece of cheese.”

 

 

Lyons says he’s troubled by the impact a lack of mental health options plays in maintaining the cycle of violence among Black youth. In his work with Campaign4Change, he often has conversations with people who commit violent crimes.

 

 

“I can deal with the kid that just killed somebody on Monday. I have a conversation with that person, and I can see the child. You get what I'm saying? Like absolutely, it's no way this kid killed somebody, but he did,” Lyons said. “I'm saying these actual facts. I know this person is a killer and this is a kid.”

 

 

Lyons says conversations involving school funding fail to address the real problems facing youth most impacted by poverty and violence.

 

 

“Why are we putting all this money in education when these kids ain’t even going to school,” Lyons said. “When you do that, you really support your kids, and you know the other kids that we are trying to get back in school get’s nothing. We need to balance it out because you can’t educate a guy that ain’t going to school. You can’t educate a kid that when they do go to school he’s disrupted and is cussing out the teachers. How can you educate a kid that’s just not willing to learn?”

 

 

Lyons believes more attention should focus on youth who aren’t being educated. He says youth need to be taught principles and morals to help make them become productive citizens.

 

 

“They don't know what respect and morals and honoring the elderly means,” Lyons said. “We got to bring those values back. We got to remind them they are worthy. Like I said, the system makes them feel they’re not worthy.”  

 

 

Lyons says conversations involving school funding fail to consider the needs of youth who fall through the gaps of traditional public education.

 

 

“Why don’t we take care of kids that dropped out of school, don't give a damn about school and got other issues,” Lyons said. “You can't even educate a kid that's hungry. You can’t educate a kid who is being abused.”

 

 

Lyons says he often reminds people these kids weren’t born evil. There are a variety of circumstances that make it difficult to break the cycle. Lyons also believes there is a system set up to hinder the progress of Black youth.

 

 

“You could look just from the basic principles of a child growing up with everything wrapped around white supremacists’ ideas,” Lyons said. “It's just in every fabric of what we do and how we educate these kids.”

 

 

Lyons reminds us not to forget the wisdom of the people who have lived among and worked with the people on the other side of the street. Many of our public policies are crafted from a place of privilege. It is easy to assume our politicians know what’s best. A vote is a statement of trust that time is spent pondering every conceivable perspective.

 

 

It took 17 shots at his own people and five years in prison for Lyons to become a hope dealer. Durham needs some hope.

 

 

Is anyone listening?

 

 

 

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