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.
As Cheddar celebrates phenomenal women during the month of March, we're taking a second to highlight a few trailblazers who have helped shape the world we live in. These women have had a significant impact on the arts in America.
As Cheddar celebrates phenomenal women during the month of March, we're taking a second to highlight a few trailblazers who have helped shape the world we live in.
It's official: Lawmakers and Gov. Cuomo have made New York the 15th state to legalize marijuana for recreational use.
Pfizer says its COVID-19 vaccine is safe and strongly protective in kids as young as 12.
Carlo's flying solo today, talking about the surge that wasn't in Texas, vaccination uptake, economic optimism, the plan for the Oscars and remembering Teri Leiker, one of the victims of the Boulder shooting.
Witnesses testified Tuesday that onlookers grew increasingly angry as they begged Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin to take his knee off George Floyd’s neck.
Cheddar's Baker Machado and Azia Celestino break down video gaming from the console wars to the gamification of job recruiting.
Jill and Carlo talk about where the coronavirus may have come from, the first day of the Derek Chauvin, trial and more.
Five thousand music lovers attended a rock concert in Barcelona after passing a same-day COVID-19 screening.
Ebony Beckwith, chief philanthropy officer at Salesforce and CEO of the Salesforce Foundation, spoke to Cheddar about the changing landscape of corporate social responsibility.
