Rob “ProBlak” Gibbs is a visual artist and organizer who has transformed the cultural landscape of Boston through graffiti art since 1991.

Growing up in Roxbury during the Hip-Hop Golden Age, ProBlak saw the power of graffiti as a form of self expression. Graffiti became a tool for him, and others in his community, to chronicle and immortalize their culture and history. For ProBlak, graffiti acts as a contemporary form of hieroglyphs, a way to document and pay homage to underserved, underhead communities in the city. His vision- to beautify the predominantly black and brown communities of Boston- is a driving force behind his artistic practice.

Rahsaan Peters has been a Front Line Violence Recovery Coordinator at Brigham and Women’ Hospital for 6 years with over 25 years of experience working in underserved communities doing youth development work with organizations such City Year, Roxbury YMCA and SOAR Street Worker Program. As a Violence Recovery Advocate Coordinator , Rahsaan has works as a part of a dedicated team of advocates who provide supportive services to patients and their families who are admitted to the hospital as a result of penetrating trauma such as gunshot, stab wounds and serious assault. Rahsaan is that gentle giant who has work tirelessly to connect families to resources to begin the process of physical, emotional and spiritual healing after a traumatic experience. He facilitates communication between his patients, family, community supports and the hospital care team. Oftentimes, when a patient is impacted by community violence, Rahsaan works with families to create safety plans, discharge, after care plans medical follow-up and sometimes sadly victim compensation, funeral and burial in the case of a homicide.

In addition to Rahsaan’s hospital work, he uses his community relationships to break down silos, cultivate and grow partnerships between agencies who may not have knowledge of the services that other agencies provide. Rahsaan is a strategic thinker who would often serves as a community connector. He is deeply committed to youth development and community engagement spaces, creating holistic and impactful programming for marginalized youth, families and communities. His insight and thoughtful suggestions have often lead to successful partnerships that grow and amplify the work of many community partners. During this pandemic, Rahsaan has dedicated his Fridays to delivering hundreds of Community Care Kits which includes sanitizer, masks and COVID19 information, testing and vaccination site information to community partners who work with high risk youth, partners who serve families who are experiencing food insecurity and seniors housing sites. All while balancing his day to day work at the hospital.

Rahsaan Peters is an unsung hero who is extremely deserving of praise, respect and admiration for his deep commitment, dedication to improve the lives of residents of Boston. His work ethic, commitment to excellence, devotion to the community and his collegial approach to empowerment makes him extremely deserving of the honor. In short, Rahsaan is an amazing human and I highly recommend him for the recognition as a hero among us.