SLANG (Struggling, Living and Never Giving Up!) was founded on August 17th, 2005 when a group of youth community activists, Maurice Robinson, Tyquilla  Smith and Eugene Beard led protests against youth violence, oppression and all other ills that plague people around the world. In 2009, SLANG eventually evolved into a school club at the downtown campus of J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College providing mentoring activities for K-12 students in the Richmond City Public School system. Believing that black and underprivileged youth who lacked the resources and an “unbalanced” school curriculum should have a more productive alternative, they organized SLANG, with activities that focused on being culturally aware, capturing the interests of African- American youth, expanding on their career goals and preparing them to become productive citizens.