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.
Bioscience and genetic engineering company, Colossal, raised $60 million in a Series A funding round. Colossal is focused on developing new technologies and genetic tools to restore extinct species, and protect critically endangered species. One of the startup's long-term goals is to resurrect the woolly mammoth, and return it back to the arctic. Colossal also says it is developing technology that expands beyond animals, and has the potential to advance human health. Ben Lamm, co-founder and CEO of Colossal, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
After a two-year hiatus, the New York City St. Patrick’s Day parade up Fifth Avenue in Manhattan made its triumphant return. More than 150,000 people turned up to celebrate the day even through bad weather.
Jordan Mauriello, CEO of MoreYellow, talks about the evolving landscape of female gamers and why brands see Influencers as more valuable than their male counterparts.
Apple's Racial Equity and Justice Initiative is a $100 million program aimed at combating systemic racism while working to advance racial equity across the country. Alisha Johnson, director of the initiative, joined Cheddar at SXSW to discuss the work being done. "We focused on three critical areas. The first is education. The second is criminal justice reform, and the third is economic empowerment, really looking first in our own supply chain, how can we really increase our spend with Latinx, Hispanic, and indigenous-owned businesses," she said. "And then how can we go further to empower entrepreneurs who have been cut out of access to funding and capital and really help them to get the funding."
What you Need to Know on Thursday, March 17. Updates from Ukraine, President Biden refers to Putin as a ‘war criminal’ for the first time, Walmart has ambitious hiring targets for Q1, and Netflix takes steps to crack down on password sharing.
Residents were cleaning their homes Thursday after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Fukushima in northern Japan, smashing furniture, knocking out power and killing four people.
Biden calls Putin a "war criminal," HBCUs are getting grant money for security after dozens of bomb threats, and Cannes may hate red-carpet selfies, but this year they're partnering with TikTok. Here is all the news you Need2Know for Thursday, March 17, 2022.
A Peacock streaming show about a '90s one-hit-wonder girl group getting another chance at musical success, "Girls5Eva" drops its second season on the platform on May 5. Cheddar's Michelle Castillo sat down with creator Meredith Scardino and actor Paula Pell from South By Southwest in Austin, Texas, to talk about what fans can expect from the series in Season 2. "They're going to create their first studio album, which is really exciting," Scardino said. "So we're going to follow that journey as they as they get back in the studio."
Cheddar News senior reporter Michelle Castillo was joined by the cast of 'Lizzo's Watch Out for the Big Grrrls' during South by Southwest 2022. They talk all about the new series, which premieres March 25 on Prime Video.
