Fr. Gregory Boyle, SJ, author of “Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion” and founder of Homeboy Industries, the largest gang-intervention program in the country, spoke during an assembly of students, faculty and parents at Marian High School in Bloomfield Hills.
“Every human life is valuable, worthy,” Fr. Boyle told the students. “Marian is a place you go from — to create a circle of compassion, to dismantle the barriers that disclude, to stand with the disposable so we stop throwing people away, to stand at the margins in order to erase them.”
Marian’s 2018-19 All School Board officers welcomed Fr. Gregory Boyle, SJ, and two members of Homeboy Industries to the school. Pictured are Grace Kanehann and Makayla Snyder, “Steve,” Fr. Boyle, “Jose,” and Christine Audette. The two former gang members did not give their last names.Joining Fr. Boyle were two employees of Homeboy Industries who told of their own families’ involvement with Los Angeles-area gangs and legal troubles. The two now mentor former gang members.
As part of an all-school project, Marian students read Fr. Boyle’s “Tattoos on the Heart” during the 2016-17 school year. In the book, Fr. Boyle talks about his work with former gang members, trying to create with them an authentic sense of family and belonging many sought in the dark world of gang life.
“Without kinship, there is no peace,” Fr. Boyle said. “Without kinship, there is no justice. Without kinship, there is no equality.”
Fr. Boyle lauded the service efforts of Marian students, who perform an average of 10,000 hours of community service each year.
Through Homeboy Industries, more than 200 former gang members and formerly incarcerated individuals have been offered support, training and services such as tattoo removal, anger management, parenting classes, substance abuse prevention and job placement services.
