For a few hours after school in Baltimore, you can find police recruits exercising, practicing yoga and learning how to breathe with Black boys from the community. It’s all through an organization called Project Pneuma that helps Black fourth- through eighth-graders develop healthy social and emotional skills through mentorship.
“Many of the young men have not had an opportunity to really be able to express their emotions as young Black men, and so our goal has been to help them to release those emotions and let them know that it’s OK not to be OK,” said Project Pneuma founder Damion Cooper.
After a near-death experience that left Cooper filled with anger, he founded the nonprofit to instill forgiveness, self-control and discipline in Black youth. Both the boys and police learn calming techniques like breath work and meditation.
“I really didn’t know what I was doing, but as we did it more often, it helped me,” said Angelo Vincent III, a 14-year-old Project Pneuma participant. “And I will also say it’s a great stress-reliever.”
Together, the recruits and boys also build trust. This comes after the Justice Department found that the Baltimore police’s practices were racially biased in the aftermath of Freddie Gray’s 2016 death while in police custody.
“The greatest gift that Project Pneuma gives to the police departments is the ability to learn about the neighborhood that you’re now policing and just kind of diminish the culture shock there,” said Detective Jahlik Mathis, who worked as a Project Pneuma mentor.
Over the past decade, Project Pneuma has helped more than 2,000 students from 23 different schools. “I get a chance to break the stigma that young men of color and officers can’t coexist,” Cooper said. “I get a chance to break the stigma that all young Black men can’t do yoga, or they can’t learn, or they can’t grow as people. I get a chance to impart hope, healing and life into young men.”
Learn more about Project Pneuma in the video above. Find out more about its programming here.
