Since the 1970s, the waring factions between the Bloods and Crips have plagued the inner cities and destroyed lives. Crime in Los Angeles varied throughout time, reaching peaks between the 1970s and 1990s. Mass incarceration, poverty, drugs, and social injustice riddled the streets as gang violence surged throughout the inner city and stunted the economic growth of the community and its people. As crime, violence, and poverty increased significantly, incarceration and death skyrocketed. The death toll spiraled and with the introduction of the crack epidemic from 1984 to 1990, the streets were riddled with senseless crimes that left parents anguished, fathers incarcerated, young men wayward, and children in fear for their life. There seemed to be no solution to the end of the nightmare that left the neighborhoods in despair. The gangs were out of control, the police were corrupt, the city was destitute, and the death toll continued to rise.

In Watts, California there lies four major housing projects that house Crips and Bloods within a 1-mile radius. Rival gangs living amongst each other with no peace. Killing each other over territory and for a color. “No one can stop this war but us”, an art mural by Harry Webber in Watts, California says it best, and that is exactly what happened. Former rivalry gang members turned community activists changed their lives and banned together to change their community. The killing had to stop.

All it takes is for two or more to agree for the senselessness to stop. That momentous day finally came on April 29, 1992 when the Grape Street Crips from the Jordan Downs Projects, the P Jay Watts Crips from the Imperial Courts housing projects, the Bounty Hunters Bloods from the Nickerson Gardens housing project, and the Hacienda Village Bloods presented themselves before the peace talk table and agreed to a truce. The rivaling gangs in Watts came to a Cease Fire agreement. This historical event brought gang violence to a standstill and was a major factor in the decline of street violence in the city between 1992 – 2010. From it, the 1992 Peace Treaty was drafted. The 1992 Peace Treaty represents the brave actions of those young men taking the courage to reverse the curse of death, address police abuse that was ensued by gang violence and activity, stop the killing, and save the lives of the future generations.

Although for a short period, its impact is long remembered and affect felt across the world.