241. Leo Louis II on Hip Hop and Finding Inner Peace as a Community Advocate

My guest today is Leo Louis II. Louis has been a community
advocate in a multitude of roles, including gang intervention,
urban farming and entrepreneurship for over a decade. 








Louis began his career in advocacy while a sophomore at North
Omaha High School, where he drafted a 10 point  email
addressing issues relating to gang violence and CC’d every person
in the school, which led to community-centered gang intervention
programming that is still active.








He has also worked with the Malcolm X Foundation where he helped
create the Shabazz Community Garden before serving as Board
President of the organization from 2019 to 2024. 








He also stars in a new film called My Omaha, a documentary
highlighting  social movements during the social and
political unrest in Omaha in 2020. My Omaha,  directed by
Nick Beaulieu (Bow-lee-yew) was selected to the Slamdance,
Middlebury, and Ashland Film festivals. 








Today, we’re talking about the intrinsic connection with social
justice and hip hop, ways community members can be more involved
in the state legislative process, and how he stays grounded while
leading movements.