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.
Emmanuel Acho joined Cheddar News to talk about his new book "Illogical: Saying Yes to a Life Without Limits." The former NFL player, current broadcaster, and host is on a mission to help people see beyond the goals that they have set for themselves. “People say 'what is being illogical?'" he said. "To me, it's believing it is so even when it's not so — so that it can be so."
Dr. Alan Kaplin, Chief Scientific Officer of MyMD, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss how the MYMD-1 is on track to be the first FDA-approved drug to treat aging and age-related diseases.
Nouveau Monde Graphite says it wants to power the sustainable energy revolution. The Canadian company is developing carbon-neutral battery materials to serve the growing EV and cleantech markets and is doing so via a mining and manufacturing operation in Quebec. Eric Desaulniers, founder, president & CEO of Nouveau Monde Graphite, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
John Logan, Director of Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco State University, joined Cheddar News to discuss the growing unionization push by employees at Starbucks and Amazon, and the wider implications of employee organization at these big companies.
Is the housing boom coming to an end? New home sales in February fell for a second straight month as mortgage rates and house prices rise. This comes as the Fed prepares to hike interest rates more aggressively to fight inflation, potentially kicking off a cooldown in the real estate market. Mark Fleming, Chief Economist of First American, explains why new home sales isn't the full picture.
With ongoing supply chain issues and war in Ukraine, inflation is likely here to stay. This is the first time many younger people will experience consistent inflation as working adults, so this video breaks it down using candy (for fun!).
Alicia Garza joined Cheddar News to talk about the Black Futures Lab where serves as founder and principal. The non-profit organization seeks to develop grassroots power in the Black community with projects like the Black Census, which takes into account the granular experiences of the demographic. "What we know about Black folks and the reason that we decided to focus on black communities again, it's because we're being left out and left behind their stories being told about us without our input and without our shaping," she said. "If we want a robust democracy in this country, we have to change that equation." Garza also touched on issues around voter suppression and the midterm elections.
