LA Riots: 20 years later

Rodney King died Sunday morning at age 47. His fiancée found him at the bottom of his swimming pool and he was pronounced dead at the hospital. In 1991 King was brutally beaten by cops who had pulled him over. The beating was caught on video tape and brought King and the police into the public eye. When the officers were acquitted, Los Angeles …

Twenty years ago today, parts of Los Angeles were in cindered ruins. From South LA to West Adams to Koreatown and Hollywood, thousands of Angelenos turned on one another, and then lit a match. Racial and ethnic tensions in the city had been bubbling for years. But when KTLA broadcast one video of LAPD officers beating Rodney King, the bubbling turned into fire. And …

Twenty years ago this week, Warren Olney first sat down in the cramped studios of KCRW to host a town forum that would become Which Way, LA?.
Riots and unrest embroiled the city, and residents were unsure of the future. It was a terrifying time for many, and the forums provided a sense of comfort as disparate communities began discussing their problems together.
KCRW’s Steve Chiotakis …

When the Rodney King Riot broke out in 1992, Kai Ma was a teenager in LA with extended family in Koreatown. She was politicized by her community’s devastation  into becoming a writer and, more recently, a filmmaker. You can see a short movie that she wrote and starred in here (click on Love Lost on the 405). This film, about LA and traffic congestion as …

Thanks to all of our listeners who shared stories of the LA Riots. Here are some of them.

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Last week we talked extensively about the LA Riots that followed the acquittal of four police officers who had beaten Rodney King. We revisited the infamous intersection of Florence and Normandie, where white truck driver, Reginald Denny was dragged out of the cab of his truck and also attacked. Both of these brutal beatings were caught on tape. Rodney King on grainy hand held …

All week we’ve been talking about the Rodney King riot of 1992, America’s worst civil disturbance in the 20th Century.  April 29 marks exactly 20 years since LAPD officers were acquitted of charges of using excessive force. All five special episodes are linked below.
The Rodney King beating was videotaped by a bystander and broadcast on newscasts worldwide. Two weeks later, a 15-year-old black girl, …

“We followed the smoke.” That’s what famed L.A. photographer Gary Leonard told me when I asked him how he and his photographer son, David, covered the 1992 L.A. riots. I think the photos they took show how Los Angeles looked and felt during the civil unrest, a city coming apart at the seams where scenes of violence, destruction and sheer weirdness played out on …

All week we’ve been airing programs about the Rodney King riot of 1992, America’s worst civil disturbance in the 20th Century. Now, we’re just three days away from April 29, exactly 20 years since four white LAPD officers were acquitted of charges of using excessive force. We hear about the mood of tension that pervaded the city at that time and how various people …

KCRW DJ Jason Kramer worked as a medic in Los Angeles during the ’80s and ’90s. The ambulance gave him a unique vantage point as he cruised through the city in the days after the riots. He shares these photos from the time, and you can hear his interview below.

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On the 20th anniversary of what has become known as the “Rodney King” riot, Warren sits down with the man who was the victim of police brutality.

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We recently posed that question on Facebook, as we prepared this week’s special coverage of the 20th anniversary of the Rodney King riots. Listeners responded with a slew of great suggestions that helped shape yesterday’s show about the riots and pop culture, as well as a few curve balls. Here’s what you said:
Lawrence Kasdan’s 1991 drama “Grand Canyon,” featuring Kevin Kline as an immigration …

On today’s anniversary edition of Which Way, LA?, we look at music, movies and literature that reflected – and in some cases predicted – the 1992 Los Angeles riots. We hear from filmmakers John Singleton and Charles Burnett, author Gary Phillips, writer and actress Anna Deavere Smith, musicians Ozomatli and others about the cultural touchstones of riots-era Los Angeles. Listen below:

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Warren talks with Professor Todd Boyd about LA culture around the time of the Rodney King riots.

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Ozomatli may be known as a party band, but they say they are a “direct product of the LA Riots.” KCRW DJ Raul Campos talks with Ozomatli band members, Will Abers and Justin Poree about Los Angeles, their music and the LA rebellion. Here’s the full tracklist of the LA Riots as told through music — listen to the interview below.
“White Riot” by the Clash… …

Wanda Coleman grew up in Los Angeles in Watts in the 1960s. She witnessed the 1965 Watts Riots, and the 1992 Rodney King riot. We invited her into the KCRW studios to share some of her poetry, which we are also playing on air this week as we look back on the civil unrest. “The Riot Inside Me” was published in 2003 and Coleman …

This the third part of a week of programs on the violence, causes and aftermath of the Rodney King riots that devastated so much of Los Angeles 20 years ago. More than 50 people were killed, thousands were injured. Estimates of property damage were in excess of $1 billion. Today, we learn how some architects and designers responded to the “deep sense of evil” …

KCRW listener, Ted Brennan had just gotten out of the army when the 1992 riots broke out. He was with the National Guard and was deployed from San Diego to Los Angeles to help patrol the city. He said that the community welcomed the National Guard when they rolled into Koreatown. Listen to his story below.

If you want to share your story, please do! …

KCRW producer Frances Anderton talked with the kids at Inner-City Arts about their experience with the school, the building and the Los Angeles Riots. The building stands in stark contrast with the surroundings. You can hear that conversation here:

On today’s show, Warren talks about LA’s “built environment” before and after the 1992 riots. Check out a slideshow of Inner-CityArts below:

(Photo credits: Inner-City Arts; Iwan …

KCRW listener and bassist Michael Blair shares his memory of the LA Riots on our Facebook page.

I was playing with Lou Reed when everything went weird. During sound check we could feel something happening around town. And we saw the news as well. Really frightening. And so sad. We were on the “Arsenio Hall” TV show the next day. Lou and Arsenio decided we …