Donte Henderson plays with his pet snake named “Yella” at Summer Night Lights (SNL), a gang-intervention initiative put on by the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office in 32 city parks. In a South LA neighborhood, community members are helping the younger generation break the cycle of violence. With little else to do over the long summer, this park becomes a place for young people to spend time off the streets, and it is the only SNL park where people from two different gang-affiliated communities come.

Sono Johnson, left, enjoys spending time with her friends at the park, and Dug Phillips, right, brings his kids to play.

Teenagers enter the park at dusk. Food and activities are provided four evenings a week.

“These teenagers, they could be anywhere else but they’re here,” says Kiah Kyle, a youth squad worker who helps facilitate SNL. “They may not be doing too much, but they’re here - not doing other stuff.”

Jmauriaughn Rayne, 10, hangs upside down and links arms with his friends.

Stephanie Bagby’s tattoo means “just live.”

Every night is different. Sometimes people break; sometimes they slink off into their corners; there is always the familiar drum of the basketball. “We can dance and everyone get along. And it’s safe,” says Chris Johnson, 21.

Michael Morse comes to SNL to zone out and remember his daughter who was killed at 10 months of age. “When I see this [kids] it's joy. It's peace for a moment,” he says.

A young girl at SNL watches as officers tow a car.

A group of teenagers argues after one of them was slapped. “Some parents drop their kids off for us to babysit and then they go out and party,” says Pastor Tyrice Cagle, a former gang-member turned pastor who is a leader at the park. Other SNL parks attract families who spend the evenings together, but there are hardly ever parents at this one.

Xavier Jones, 9, as Pennywise at the last SNL meeting of the summer.

“We gotta change the narrative. We gotta show them a better way,” says Pastor Tyrice Cagle, a former gang-member turned pastor who a bridge between the SNL community and the LAPD. “I love my community,” he says.

Officer Rebecca Martin, the first female to work the gang unit in this division, remembers Pastor Tyrice Cagle from his past life in gangs, and now they work together. “I didn't believe in former gang members until Cagle showed me otherwise,” she says.

“This neighborhood doesn’t have a movie theater or a community center. They need a place to hang out,” says Officer Gary.

Taija Blair, 19, a youth squad volunteer for SNL, says, “I don't even feel like I'm at work,” she says.

Shanie Williams, 14, center, plays with her sisters Kayla Williams, 15, left, and Niya Williams, 16. They live in the neighborhood and come to get out of the house.

Shayonni Phillips, 7, gets her portrait drawn by a painter who volunteers his time at different SNL parks.

Arya Bagby, 6, throws a punk boy doll into the air on one of the last nights of the summer.