In response to the completely fucked, disheartening events of the past few days, many artists have come forth to speak publicly about their personal despair and offer messages of change and hope. Chance The Rapper took to Twitter, Solange posted a cappella lines of Syreeta’s “Black Maybe,” Beyoncé issued a statement, Miguel began the piercing work in progress “How Many,” Drake penned an open letter and Jay-Z got “spiritual” among many other reactions in the music community.

Today, West Coast veteran rappers the Game and Snoop Dogg took things beyond social media and music to organize and lead a peaceful protest march in coordination with LAPD Chief of Police Charlie Beck. The march led straight toward the graduation of the LAPD’s newest wave of officers. At 6:30AM PDT, the Game posted a righteous call to action for black, Mexican, and men of all races to march to “make the Californian government and it’s law branches aware that from today forward, we will be UNIFIED as minorities & we will no longer allow them to hunt us or be hunted by us !!!” on Instagram:

Operation H.U.N.T Meet NOW at Joe's auto park parking 1221 west 3rd street Los Angeles California 90017 Calling: ALL AFRICAN AMERICAN MEN, MEXICAN AMERICAN MEN & any other RACE of REAL MEN with heart to stand with us today & walk peacefully to the LAPD headquarters. [LEAVE ALL WOMEN & CHILDREN AT HOME… THIS IS OUR MISSION FOR THEM] Do not: bring any weapons or anything illegal. Do not come high or belligerent.. We don't need any HOT HEADS or anyone there for the wrong reasons… We will stand as we are, UNIFIED. I'm calling ALL GANGS, ALL RACES, ALL GROWN MEN affiliated or not & WE WILL STAND UNIFIED tomorrow !!!! Our numbers are all the weapons we need !!! We do not need to be dumb, retarded or uncivilized today… ALL WE NEED IS EACH OTHER… I will not lead any of you into a trap !!!!! Objective: to make the Californian government & it's law branches aware that from today forward, we will be UNIFIED as minorities & we will no longer allow them to hunt us or be hunted by us !!! Let's erase the fear of one another on both sides & start something new here in the city of Los Angeles, a city we all love & share ! There are many things that have to be done to rectify this situation that has plagued us for hundreds of years & UNIFICATION is the 1st step !!! Again, I'm asking for ALL of my AFRICAN AMERICAN, MEXICAN AMERICAN & any other AMERICAN who has the heart to STAND WITH US to meet us at the above address & take the 1st step into altering our future for our children & our FAMILIES….I LOVE EVERY ONE OF YOU & WE OWE IT TO OURSELVES & OUR FAMILIES TO BE MEN & TAKE A STAND MY BROTHERS.. THE TIME IS NOW – The Game 📸 @derekdidit

A photo posted by The Game (@losangelesconfidential) on Jul 8, 2016 at 6:47am PDT

As a result about 50 men marched to the LAPD headquarters in Downtown LA.

H.U.N.T the movement !!! #HATEUSNOTTODAY #HUNTUSNOTTODAY

A video posted by The Game (@losangelesconfidential) on Jul 8, 2016 at 8:27am PDT

Snoop pointed out that he, the Game, and other organizers didn’t know that LAPD graduation was taking place today while they were planning the march before dawn. He told TV reporters on the scene: “The mission is to reintroduce our community to the LAPD…just to get some understanding and dialogue. We’re the ones they’re going to be dealing with, we’re the ones that are going to be pulled over. We’re here on peace.”

After the march, both rappers attended a press conference with Chief Beck and had very eloquent remarks about police and citizen relations in America. The Game in particular shared a thoughtful anecdote about the difficult explanation he offered his son when explaining the demoralizing events of the past few days in a way that wouldn’t taint his perception of the police’s role in society. Watch that press conference in it’s entirety below via TMZ.

Though the recent tragedies have been unnerving to say the least, something feels different about people’s responses this time around. Artists, law enforcement officials, and citizens of all colors are mobilizing and finding ways to have actual conversations expressing outrage outside of social media to exact change. As a black man, I was sick to my stomach with despair. But seeing the many even-keeled, genuine actions of people trying to better the situation. My hope is slowly being restored.

"This is a strong city." -@thegame pic.twitter.com/gK2CE6sdBJ

— Mayor of Los Angeles (@MayorOfLA) July 8, 2016

Right here, right now: We are having the dialogue for peace in our city and our country. @thegame @SnoopDogg pic.twitter.com/DnLsLABDaR

— Mayor of Los Angeles (@MayorOfLA) July 8, 2016

"You cannot match hate with hate, you have to match hate with love, and that's what we came for today." – @SnoopDogg pic.twitter.com/VDahvOY5sm

— Mayor of Los Angeles (@MayorOfLA) July 8, 2016

Here as one city to speak w/ one voice and to reaffirm our commitment to work for peace. The violence must stop. pic.twitter.com/ht1BWBSQjf

— Mayor of Los Angeles (@MayorOfLA) July 8, 2016