(Photo credit: Twitter)
The Crips and Bloods are two of the biggest and most notorious rival street gangs in Los Angeles. They’ve been mentioned in rap songs, in movies and some of today’s biggest entertainers have revealed that they used to be or have come out of those gangs as well. But the two rivals called a rare truce this week and came together to honor late rapper Nipsey Hussle.
The rapper was shot to death last weekend in front of the store he owns in the city’s Hyde Park neighborhood. The killing set social media and conspiracy theorists on fire. As well as inspiring community activists and everyday people alike to give back in honor for the work Hussle did in his own community.
The tally of gang-related homicides, mainly by Crips and Bloods, in Los Angeles County broke a record in 1992, reaching 800 for the first time, according to a preliminary count by law enforcement officials. The record has been climbing since. It marked the fifth consecutive year of record killing in the county, which had seen the annual gang-related death toll rise from 452 to 559 to 690 to 771.
The last time that the gangs called a truce was that same year in ’92, when they came together in the midst of the L.A. riots. As The Sun report noted, this week’s truce came about after gang leaders from Watts, Compton, and Inglewood met to call a cease-fire so the entire community could mourn Nipsey together.
“It’s in honor of Nipsey,” community leader Big U told TMZ. “There’s a lot of people who said they wanted to get together and come to a vigil and pay respect because Nipsey was the first real LA artist that was from LA.”
While there was no time limit issued on the truce, many are hopeful that this time of peace will help spout into something more permanent and even get the two sides working together in business endeavors and community real-estate projects.
Nipsey Hussle was heavily involved in efforts to stop gang violence and was reportedly set to meet with representatives of the LAPD the day after his death to discuss ways to get young people out of gangs and away from violence. Nipsey also chose to invest in his community, opening his store in the neighborhood where he grew up.
Big U said he hoped Nipsey Hussle’s death could…
… help the gangs come together and work on a long-term truce.
And with all that is going on in the world, many–both young and old–agree that the time for Black and Brown people killing themselves over rival territory is over. Let’s come together and build instead of going against each other and tearing down.
There are so many people against us, don’t you think it’s time for us to be FOR us?
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