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.
Cheddar recs "The D'Amelio Show," "Dug Days," "Untold: Crime & Penalties, and "Candyman" (1992).
Court documents say a 24-year-old Illinois woman submitted a fake COVID-19 vaccination card to visit Hawaii that misspelled Moderna.
The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell last week to 340,000, a pandemic low, another sign that the job market is steadily rebounding from the economic collapse caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
All the news you Need2Know for Thursday, September 2, 2021.
All the news you Need2Know for Wednesday, September 1, 2021.
The nation’s most far-reaching curb on abortions has taken effect in Texas, with the Supreme Court silent so far on an emergency appeal to put the law on hold.
When Only Fans announced that they would be blocking adult content on the platform, creators like Pyra Faye were shocked and disheartened.
When Only Fans announced that they would be blocking adult content on the platform, creators like Pyra Faye were shocked and disheartened. The company has since changed stances, saying it would suspend its initial ban on sexually explicit content. But Pyra Fae says the damage has been done, as she's noticed website traffic decline which has impacted her business.
Cheddar asked its Gen Z and Millennial-aged Facebook and Instagram users about several topics including how they use social media, buying cryptocurrency, and the future job market.
Officials say an 80-pound cougar was removed from a Bronx apartment where she was being kept illegally as a pet.
