Imani Johnson is just 11, but she wanted to know what it would take to be accepted into Masterman High School and Columbia University to pursue her dream of becoming governor. North Philadelphia native Dr. Marc Lamont Hill, a Fox News political contributor, who joined Columbia’s faculty in the fall as an associate professor, offered some sound advice.

“To be willing to make decisions at times when people are going to tell you you’re doing the wrong thing because the same people who make fun of you for working hard and getting A’s are going to be calling you once you succeed,” the Metro newspaper columnist said. “Once you’re governor, it’s going to be the same people calling you asking for favors.”

The Laboratory Charter School fifth-grader still has 19 years until she is eligible to lead the state, but the Peace Not Guns Youth Town Hall Meeting at South Philadelphia High School last week set out to motivate children just like Johnson.

“It’s nice and inspiring and it makes me feel good on how to go on and pursue a better person and inspire myself to be who I want to be,” the 18th-and-Dickinson-streets native who now resides in West Philadelphia said after the event.

Last year, 145 of the city’s 333 homicides involved ages 17 to 25. State Rep. Kenyatta Johnson, who launched the violence prevention program Peace Not Guns about 11 years ago, invited successful African-Americans with local ties to encourage the younger generation to follow in their footsteps by first foregoing violence.

At the majority of community forums, adults do the speaking, but Dec. 10 was all about the next generation, Johnson said. Although the speakers did make remarks at first, they fielded questions from the predominantly young crowd toward the end of the evening.

“Very rarely do we have the young people talking about it from their perspective,” Johnson said. “It’s very, very important we give them a voice.”

The organization that teaches anti-gun education seeks partners to promote its message through mentoring, job training and conflict resolution, he said, but that night it targeted those in attendance.

“We want to inspire not only one student in the audience but all of them,” he said.

Members of Project Positive Energy Activates Constant Elevation (P.E.A.C.E.) kicked off the night and ended it with “Peace and Love” by 410{D&J}, which included Prep Charter senior Da’Me Harris and Southern junior Justin Robinson. The two hoped to influence the audience with their positive song, Harris, of 27th and Dickinson streets, said.

“It’s definitely senseless violence,” he said, “as I’m sure there are two times the people doing positive things.”

State Sens. Anthony H. Williams and Larry Farnese made remarks prior to the start of the Town Hall, which was moderated by Hill. Panelists who shared their take on what was happening on city streets included Common Pleas Court Judge Paula Patrick; “True to the Game” author Teri Woods; the Philadelphia Youth Commission’s Jamira Burley, whose older brother was murdered in his sleep; District Attorney-elect Seth Williams; and Temple Law student Kevin Harden Jr., who was shot five times in 2006.

The No. 1 cause of death among African-Americans under age 35 is homicide and, regardless of race, Philadelphia leads the nation in deaths by handguns, Williams said. However, everyone needs to work together to find solutions to the problem instead of placing blame, he added.

“We got some people living in worse situations — one brother is a criminal, the other one is a saint — so we just can’t keep blaming everybody for everything,” he told the crowd. “It’s about personal responsibility.”

Every day, Judge Patrick sees kids come into her criminal court. Last week, an 18-year-old was sentenced to 25 to 50 years for shooting two narcotics officers, she said.

“It really breaks my heart,” the North Carolina native who now resides in Philadelphia said.

Patrick encouraged the children to avoid throwing their lives away with violence, as more than 90 percent of cases brought before her involve African-Americans, she said.

“You have to have values and you have to value something,” she said. “If you don’t value anything, then you could care less about your life let alone anyone else’s.”

Ignorance also plays a role, the Youth Commission’s Burley, who became the first of her 16 siblings to graduate from high school, said.

“We see videos perpetuating this lifestyle of a rapper or a gangster and it’s showing our young people that’s the only thing they can be when, in all reality, they can make a difference in their community,” the 21-year-old who is a junior at Temple University said.

The message could wind up making the biggest difference in the school at 2101 S. Broad St., where the event was held.

“This is really helping a lot,” Southern’s Robinson, of 24th and Moore streets, said of the event, adding, “This is perfect timing.”

Two other Southern students addressed the panel, referencing fights that occurred earlier this month that are believed to have been hate crimes and caused Asian-American students to refuse to attend classes. The Human Relations Commission and district officials discussed the violence at its Dec. 14 meeting. Senior Therese Hudgins hopes to see all races come together, while sophomore James Colson asked the panel what could be done to prevent violence in the school.

“A whole lot of times you see people creating solutions for the effects of violence, but not the prevention,” Burley, an Overbrook High alum who co-founded the school’s Panther Peace Core, said.

Burley’s efforts to work with her high school classmates to calm the violence helped motivate Colson to approach Principal Lagreta Brown about forming an anti-violence organization at Southern.

“Prevent it,” Colson, of 20th and Ritner streets, said. “Get it done and over with.”