Jabee Williams

Executive director. Live Free OKC
Oklahoma City

Following his brother’s tragic death by gun violence in 2001, Jabee Williams trudged a hard road toward peace and healing. And part of that path was finding solutions to end gun violence in his northeast Oklahoma City community.

Williams, ​​40, an award-winning rapper and entrepreneur, realized that in order to achieve his mission he would have to get ahead of the gun violence that took his brother, other family members and friends. In August 2023, he launched Live Free OKC, the city’s first initiative dedicated to building peace and reducing gun violence. It is a subsidiary of Live Free USA, the national gun violence prevention organization.

Through targeted intervention programming, the mission is to identify and get in front of people who are involved in the shootings — either as victims or perpetrators. Live Free OKC has four full-time violence interrupters, also known as “peacemakers,” who are from the community and work to intervene and keep people from getting involved in violence. They also help address whatever problems those individuals might have with housing, employment, food, and mental health.

“What we do is real,” Williams told theGrio. “We are engaging in and mediating situations with people who are at high risk. You have to come from the area to be able to speak to the people in these situations.”

Community activism isn’t new for him. In December 2023, he hosted the 10th annual Hip Hop Give Back Gift Raps event. In partnership with local organizations and companies, Williams collected toys, food, clothes and more to help those in need. And when his Eastside Pizza House parlor was robbed last year, he offered jobs to those who stole from him. “This kid obviously needs a job if he’s coming in to steal from you.”

2024 Honorees