The Game holds anti-violence summit in Los Angeles

The Game is interviewed after a peaceful march to LAPD headquarters.
(Image credit: Frederic J. Brown/Getty Images)

On his Instagram Sunday, rapper The Game invited gang members and leaders and concerned residents from across Southern California to a meeting for a "much needed conversation" on how to stop violence in their neighborhoods.

Hundreds of people attended the event, held at a community center in the Vermont Knolls area of South Los Angeles. "Your life should mean more to you," The Game, whose real name is Jayceon Terrell Taylor, told those assembled. "Your life should mean more to you then what you're showing." The Game grew up in Compton, and said he wants the streets to be safer for his daughter; earlier this month, he peacefully marched with Snoop Dogg to Los Angeles Police Department headquarters, where they called for better relations between police and the communities they serve.

The Game worked with Nation of Islam minister Tony Muhammad to organize Sunday's meeting, which featured talks from former and current gang members and local radio personalities. At one point, Muhammad asked people in the audience to stand if they had lost someone to violence, and hundreds rose to their feet. Dom Black, 22, told the Los Angeles Times he was raised in a nearby community, and was beaten up and shot at while in his neighborhood. "I came out here because I feel like the change starts inside," he said.

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Catherine Garcia

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.