Gangs Make Peace

Rapper The Game along with anti-gang activists, Police Chief Charlie Beck, Will.I.Am., and rival Los Angeles gang members gathered at a community center this month to bring an end to gang violence. The Game shared a powerful story about the recent loss of a former gang member he grew up with in foster care before calling on the crowd to make the world a better, less violent place. Some 2,500 responded to his invitation by arriving at the summit. Back in the era of Rodney King and the LA Riots of 1992, hundreds of young black men from warring factions of the Blood and Crip gangs gathered not to protest the Rodney King beating, but to declare a ceasefire. This new peace treaty included Crips, Bloods and ESEs. In a graphic example of change, a Blood and a Crip took off their red and blue T-shirts, handed them to each other and embraced in friendship. Reportedly, The Game, whose real name is Jayceon Terrell Taylor, has been vocal about building a better bridge between police and their community. He and Snoop Dogg led a march to police headquarters in Los Angeles earlier this month following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castle. They met with the mayor and police chief to discuss ways to improve things between cops and minorities. The LA police chief said about 1,000 people were shot last year. Almost 300 of them died and 80 percent of the victims and 80 percent of the shooters were young men of color. See news stories here-- http://lat.ms/2a1kBzG and http://bit.ly/2ao3sRx and http://bit.ly/2aEWCK1

Why Can't We All Just Get Along?

Recent shootings by law enforcement caught on video and now snipers taking out police officers have me thinking of the refrain from Rodney King, "Can we all get along?" Though now almost a quarter century ago, it seems like the LA riot events was last time we really had a national debate about police brutality and racial injustice. Peacemakers such as Doug Noll, with whom I've taken courses at the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, remind us that neuroscience has established an irrefutable fact: human beings are emotional, not rational. Still, we have a belief that humans are distinguished from all other creatures because of their rationality. To be irrational is to be something less than human. People engaged in peacemaking long assumed that despite the emotions of conflict, people are fundamentally rational. The truth is, we are ninety-eight percent emotional and about two percent rational. Research demonstrates that we must strive to be far more aware of neuropsychological factors of human conflict. Noll believes these factors explain much about conflict behaviors. They also provide insights about new interventions in intractable conflicts. Conflict starts with a problem serious enough to cause anxiety, reflected in a feeling of insecurity. When anxiety or insecurity is first experienced, he says we have a choice between reactivity and reflection. If we do not make a choice, Noll says our default mode is to be reactive. By being reactive, we might reject the problem, give up, or feel inadequate to deal with the problem. If the problem is persistent, we might struggle or exit. As the conflict develops, we perceive it as a threat, and we may blame, attack or withdraw. These behaviors constitute our fear reaction system. If the choice for reflection is made, we have learned to reflect, relate, and relax. The insecurity arising from a conflict situation is recognized as pointing to a pathway of growth towards greater peace and self-realization. The brain's altruistic, cooperative social attachment systems actually allow us to be compassionate, tolerant, and exhibit loving-kindness. Perhaps through this, we can engage in conflict resolution and achieve peace. See more here-- http://bit.ly/29zdOwA and http://timelines.latimes.com/los-angeles-riots/