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Joseph Earl Marshall, Jr. (born 1947)^[1][2] is an American author, lecturer, radio talk show host, and community activist.

Marshall grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and the South Central part of Los Angeles, California.^[1][3] He graduated from Loyola High School of Los Angeles, the University of San Francisco with a BA in political science and sociology (1968),^[2][4] San Francisco State University in 1974 with an M.A. in Education,^[5] and the Wright Institute with a Ph.D. in Psychology.^[6] Marshall became a teacher at Woodrow Wilson High School of San Francisco in 1969 after getting his B.A.^[3] In 1994, Marshall left his teaching job to become an anti-violence activist.^[5]

San Francisco urban contemporary station KMEL hired Marshall to host the Sunday night talk show Street Soldiers after local rapper MC Hammer hosted the November 1991 debut show.^[7] The show continues to air every Sunday night from 8-10pm PST and focuses on discussing critical issues and events affecting the African American community and its youth.

He is the founder of 501c(3) non-profit organization Alive & Free, the mission of which is to keep young people alive and free, unharmed by violence and free from incarceration. Alive & Free operates under the principles of treating violence like a disease. Like any disease, there are specific risk factors, symptoms, and a prescription for healing or prevention. Marshall also founded the Street Soldiers National Consortium, a group of activists dedicated to preventing violence nationwide.

• 2004 Ashoka Fellow
• 1994 MacArthur Fellows Program
• Leadership Award from the Children's Defense Fund
• Essence Award honoring outstanding contributions by African American men
• 1996 Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Award from the National Educational Association
• 2001 "Use Your Life Award" from Oprah Winfrey's Angel Network.
• 2012 "Best Community-Oriented Radio Program Award" from SF Weekly for Street Soldiers^[8]

• Street Soldier, One Man's Struggle to Save a Generation, One Life at a Time, Delacorte Press, 1996, ISBN 978-0-385-31430-5