What they are doing, little by little, is creating a sense of community with cookouts and block parties in neighborhoods where violence can create a fear that destroys such cohesion. They hold job fairs in areas where there are few economic opportunities and the easy money from the drug trade becomes too tempting to many young people. Rituals at sites where people have been killed — with chanting and the burning of sage — are reminders that the lives of those killed mean something and that they leave families and communities behind who grieve their loss. The latest ceasefire was held Mother’s Day, a tough time where moms, and dads too, are reminded of the loss of their children to violence.