Peace in the hood

Today, as I was walking back from class, I made eye contact with a guy. He started redirecting his path toward me until it was evident that he was going to talk to me. My thoughts were something like, "Crap, he is going to tell me that children are starving in the world, or that there is some corporate corruption that I can help fix. Then he is going to ask me for money or to sign up for some 10 cents a day type of thing. I hate people like this."
Anyway, he started telling about his journey. I guess he is making his was across California and other places and documenting graffiti on bridges, walls, rocks, and I guess anywhere else. He had with him a small photo album full of pictures of different tags in all types of locations. Some right in suburbia and others taken in what looked like the middle of nowhere. Somehow he plans to get his pictures into magazines or articles or DVD's and use the profits to help people that suffer from gang violence and other intercity struggles. I thought this sounded pretty cool. For some reason, his project and journey seemed much more personal than other huge organizations. It was encouraging to see one person have the convition that he can make a difference through something as simple as documenting graffiti.
I wish I could have talked to him longer, but I was kind of in a rush. I couldn't really make out his last words but I think he said, "Peace in the hood."