Image above:Deangelo Luckett, Memphis Allies outreach specialist

Power Shift: Deangelo Luckett making an impact for Memphis Allies

At age 13, with his parents not getting along and his father mostly absent, Deangelo Luckett joined a gang. It didn’t take long for him to find a gun in his hand. With his mother struggling to feed the family, Luckett felt like he now had the means to help.

“I went into the streets,” said Luckett, 38, who is working as a Memphis Allies outreach specialist. “It was a way to take weight off her.”

It also punched his ticket to prison for charges that included aggravated robbery and aggravated assault. By that time, he had risen to a ranked position in the gang.

Fellow gang member Tito Porter, the outreach supervisor whom Luckett now reports to at Memphis Allies, went to prison at the same time.

“We were ‘charge’ partners,” Porter said.

Porter’s mother would visit them, bringing crossword puzzles to help them pass the time. Porter and Luckett would meet up in the mess hall and talk about the future, about living different lives after they were back in the community.

Now, here are they are working together in one of the largest gun violence intervention initiatives in the country.

“It’s really like a carryover from when we were in the same set,” Porter said. “Back then, he was the guy that brought people together. He’s good at connecting with people. It’s just a transition from the streets to a positive influence.”

An example of change
After spending several years in prison, Luckett returned to free society stuck in old patterns. But things changed while he was gone. The gang members outside did not regard him the same way. Nor did they conduct business the same way.

“They were playing with fire,” Luckett said, adding there was a time he did not feel secure unless he was carrying a gun.

Now, with a wife and kids, and a job dedicated to stopping the next shooting, his perspective has flipped. He is living out the Memphis Allies SWITCH model: Support with Intention to Create Hope.

“Today, if I feel like I’ve got to have a gun to be safe, I’m not gonna be there,” Luckett said.

But he understands why young guys in the streets might feel they need to be armed.

“I tell them ‘I was right where you are now,’” Luckett said. “Just because you’re there now, that doesn’t mean you gotta stay there.”

‘What you need when you need it’
Luckett’s efforts to stop gun violence were recognized at the 2025 Memphis Allies Retreat, where he received the Hope Award. Porter says Luckett has a talent for cooling overheated conflicts before a shot is ever fired.

“He doesn’t use big words, he uses the right words,” Porter said. “He’s not going to make it fancy, but he’ll give you exactly what you need when you need it.”

Carl Davis, managing director of operations for Memphis Allies, said: “Deangelo is a rock star. A lot of people say they have LTO (license to operate), but he truly can go into any community. We reach out to him a lot for finding someone or making a connection.”

The way Luckett sees it, he now possesses a power he once could not have imagined.

“Back in the day, I did so many negative things in the community,” he said, pausing for a moment. “I feel I’ve got to clean it up and do positive.”

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