Part 1 of the TED Radio Hour episode "How to talk about peace"
Aqeela Sherrills grew up amidst warring gangs in LA. To stop the violence, Sherrills spent years building bridges between the Bloods and the Crips, paving the way for their historic 1992 peace treaty.
About Aqeela Sherrills
Aqeela Sherrills grew up in the Jordan Downs Housing Projects in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. He played a key role negotiating the historic 1992 "Peace Treaty" between the Crips and Bloods. The truce he facilitated led to a 40-year low in homicides in Los Angeles. Sherrills continued his work in violence reduction as the co-creator and director of the Newark Community Street Team in 2014. Currently, Sherrills serves as the co-founder and leader of the Community-Based Public Safety Collective. Sherrills sits on the board of L.A.U.R.A, volunteers with the Fair Sentencing for Youth Campaign and serves as the LA Chapter-lead for Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice with Californians for Safety and Justice.
This segment of the TED Radio Hour was produced by Katie Monteleone and Harsha Nahata. It was edited by Sanaz Meshkinpour and Manoush Zomorodi. You can follow us on Facebook @TEDRadioHour and email us at TEDRadioHour@npr.org.
Web Resources
Related TED Talk: The blueprint for serving a million school lunches — every day
Related TED Talk: 3 questions to build resilience -- and change the world
Related TED Talk: The real-world danger of online myths
Related NPR Links
1A: The Pragmatism Of Community Violence Prevention Programs
Morning Edition: Despite funding cuts, these teens are still answering calls for help
Morning Edition: A look at research on Americans' changing attitudes toward political violence
Copyright 2026 NPR
