LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Rappers The Game and Snoop Dogg are organizing a summit with Los Angeles-area gang members on Sunday to discuss ways to curb violence. The Game put the word out last week on social media, inviting leaders of the Crips, Bloods and other street gangs to come together at a town hall style meeting at a community center in South Los Angeles.
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The event is called "Time To Unite: United Hoods + Gangs Nation." The Game, who grew up as Jayceon Terrell Taylor in nearby Compton, said he wants men to have a "much-needed conversation" about their influence on young people and how to serve as better role models.
"Because the sad truth that no one wants to face is, before we can get our lives to matter to anyone else... We have to show that our lives matter to us," he wrote on Instagram July 14. Also expected to attend is Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
Earlier this month, The Game and Snoop Dogg led a peaceful march to Los Angeles police headquarters, where they met with the mayor and police chief and urged improved relations between authorities and minority communities.
The rappers are among many activists and celebrities calling for change following the police-related killings of black men nationwide and the shooting deaths of five police officers in Dallas by a lone gunman motivated by racial hatred.
Rappers The Game, Snoop Dogg organize LA gang summit - Music news