On July 29, 14-year-old basketball star Semaj Miller was gunned down in South Los Angeles.
At six-foot-seven-inches tall, the Compton teenager was expected to go far with the L.A. City Wildcats, an association that helped launch the career of NBA player James Harden.
Now the community is mourning his loss.
"Semaj was such a talented kid who lost his life too soon," Rapper Percy “Master P” Miller, a coach and part-owner of the team, told Cheddar. "We have to stop this senseless killing, gun violence in our community. It's not the police. This is us killing us."
Miller lamented that gun violence is robbing the next generation of its talent, as well as those who could find success and come back and invest in their communities.
"This kid could have been the next LeBron James, could have been the next James Harden," he said. "We'll never get to know how talented this kid could have been."
Stepping outside of the rhetoric used in recent protests against police violence, the rapper said it was the responsibility of citizens to stop the violence in their own communities.
"I know we're out here protesting for Black Lives Matter, but my thing is, 'Okay, our kids matter,'" he said. "This is our future."
Miller didn't outline specific preventive measures but emphasized parenting and education.
"It's got to start in our community. We have to stand up for these kids. We have to protect them. We have to educate them," he said.
A Gallup poll finds that now 7.1% of American adults identify as LGBTQ, jumping from 3.5% in 2012. The increase is driven by Generation-Z – those born between 1997 and 2003 – of whom one out of five identify as LGBTQ. Cheddar News speaks with Washington Blade reporter Chris Johnson about the significant shift.
Bamboo-based toilet paper company Cloud Paper raised $5 million in a recent funding round. Its product is a bamboo-based alternative to traditional toilet paper made from trees, and its mission is to end the deforestation caused by traditional paper products. Cloud Paper says the raise will allow it to make significant investments in its supply chain, product development, and hiring. Ryan Fritsch, a co-founder of Cloud Paper, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Anne Price, president of the Insight Center for Community Economic Development, discusses how Black Americans have been adversely impacted by rising home prices and offers tips for wealth building.
Ellen Goodwin, Co-Founder and Chief Solutions Officer of Artifcts, joins ChedHER to discuss how she's creating a platform to preserve the history of your belongings, and her experience succeeding in male-dominated industries.
Keren Sachs, Founder and CEO at The Luupe, joins ChedHER to discuss how her platform bridges the gap between diverse creators and brands, and what the future of the creator economy looks like.
Thelma Ferguson, Managing Director & Northeast Segment Head at JPMorgan Chase Commercial Banking, joins ChedHER to discuss the upcoming Women Presidents Organization's "50 Fastest-Growing Women-Owned/Led Companies" ranking, and what kind of impact women entrepreneurs have on the overall economy.
On this episode of ChedHER: Artifcts Co-Founder breaks down how she's creating a platform to preserve the history of your belongings; The Luupe CEO explains how her platform bridges the gap between diverse creators and brands; Managing Director & Northeast Segment Head at JPMorgan Chase Commercial Banking discusses the upcoming Women Presidents Organization's "50 Fastest-Growing Women-Owned/Led Companies" ranking.
