LA Riots: 20 Years Later
Collages by Mae Ryan/ KPCC | Launch Slideshow
On April 29th, 1992 four men pulled Reginald Denny out of his truck and nearly beat him to death at the intersection of Florence and Normandie in South Central Los Angeles
Police quell looters and fires near 924 S Vermont Ave in Koreatown on April 29th, 1992. Few Koreans received help from the city in rebuilding their stores after the riots.
The Sorbonne Market at 4600 S. Vermont Ave erupts in flames on April 29th, 1992. There was approximately one billion dollars in property damages over the course of the riots.
A business near the intersection of 8th St. and Alvarado St. burns on April 29th, 1992. More than 2,000 businesses were damaged or destroyed during the riots.
Armed forces stop looters at Ralph's during the '92 riots at 4360 S Figueroa St. in South Central Los Angeles. The government deployed 2,800 National Guard with another 3,200 standby, and 4,000 Marines and US Army troops during the riots.
A fire blazes at 165 S. Vermont St. in Koreatown on April 29th, 1992. Five Korean merchants were killed in the riots, others were wounded, and several stores were looted.
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Live from the Crawford Family Forum
On Wednesday, April 11th, audience members joined KPCC Senior News Editor Cheryl Devall to talk about the role of race in the 1992 upheaval itself how Los Angeles feels two decades later. Dr. Fernando Guerra, director of Loyola Marymount University’s Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles, shared the results of its recent LA Riots 20 Year Anniversary Resident Survey.
KPCC coverage: LA then and now
Most Angelenos would like to forget the ’92 Riots. Lloyd Wilkey has embraced them.
The day before the riots, black street gangs in Watts declared a truce in a bloody war that had killed hundreds of young men. It was an extraordinary moment in the city’s history.
There have been many changes in the city since those days of fire, looting and public discord in 1992, but perhaps the biggest changes can be seen in L.A.'s police department.
The violence, despair and destruction that exploded in Los Angeles on April 29, 1992 left indelible memories on Angelenos and on Americans right across the country.
It's the 20th anniversary of the L.A. riots and here at KPCC we've been digging deep into the legacy of those bad days for the city. But it's also the 16th anniversary of just about the only serious economics paper Matt Debord can find on why the riots might have happened.
During April of 1992, Sonny Kang, a Korean-American from Koreatown, was in his college dorm room in San Diego when he first heard about the LA Riots. He turned on his TV and saw his hometown in a chaotic state.
Grace Yun is a Korean American who teaches at a high school in Watts. Yun is originally from Virginia but she’s been a teacher in Watts for six years. She was only eight years old during the riots, and wanted to know more about the event when she moved to L.A.
During the last month, KPCC brought together four panels of Angelenos to share their recollections of the deadly riots that began April 29, 1992 in an informal series of private conversations, led by journalists and other members of the staff. The panelists were people from throughout the city, of different ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds. Those who led the talks have been sharing the highlights of what they learned all this week on Multi-American.
Patt Morrison sat down recently with King to talk about the 20th anniversary of the L.A. Riots and how they have affected his life, and how they changed Los Angeles and its people.
The rioting that broke out in L.A. in 1992 was one of the most traumatic episodes in the history of the city. Sunday marks the 20th anniversary of the violence. The riots lasted a total of six days. More than 50 people were killed. Property damage was estimated at a billion dollars. Long-time L.A.P.D. Chief Daryl Gates retired two months later.
Bob Green is as blue as you get - L.A.P.D. blue. Born and raised in Westchester near Los Angeles International Airport, Green always wanted to be a police officer - to chase bad guys and serve his community. He's worked in the gang unit, SWAT and flown helicopters patrolling the city he loves from above.
For some Angelenos, the 20th anniversary of the L.A. Riots brings to mind another traumatic event from an even earlier time: The Watts Riots of 1965.
On April 29, 1992, James Hahn was driving down Florence on his way to his parents' house. On the radio, he heard about the rioting and diverted to side streets. He would have beaten Reginald Denny to Florence and Normandie by five minutes.
I’ve watched this city fall apart twice in my lifetime. On August 11, 1965, just two days before my birthday, an incident with a cop just a few miles from our house grew into the explosion we now know as the Watts riots.
Given that it’s not easy to have a substantive conversation with children about abstract concepts like violence and racism, how does one begin to teach or talk to kids about what happened in 1992? How are schools teaching the lessons of this defining event to the children of people who witnessed it firsthand?
Excerpts from a story Peter Sagal told at an "Audible Feast” benefit for Chicago Public Radio at the Rubloff Auditorium of the Art Institute of Chicago, which he retells on this week's Off-Ramp to KPCC's John Rabe.
Once the fires of the L.A. Riots were out, shop owners in South L.A. began the painful task of rebuilding after the riots. But the battle was just beginning for liquor store owners, and the community activists trying to keep them out.
In the aftermath of the Rodney King verdict, many Koreans throughout the L.A. area rushed to Koreatown after Korean-language radio stations called for volunteers to guard against rioters. Many were armed with guns and improvised weapons. In the end, five Korean merchants were killed, others were wounded, and several stores were looted.
Journalist and historian Joe Domanick takes Off-Ramp listeners to Parker Center, the L.A. Times building, and the new LAPD Headquarters building – three places he sees as crucial to understanding why the 1992 L.A. Riots happened.
Bianca Ramirez, one of KPCC's producers, was 6 when the riots broke out at Florence and Normandie, just a couple miles from her house, and they quickly spread to her neighborhood.
On April 29, 1993 – one year after the Rodney King riots began – artist Jill D'Agnenica embarked on an extremely ambitious art project.
How Korean Angelenos remember the Los Angeles Riots, from its media coverage of yesteryears to the mark it's left on today.
Linda Jay calls herself a "trial junkie." She doesn't just watch trials on TV, she goes to see them in person. A 55 year-old South Central resident, she’s been going to high-profile court trials for 20 years.
Twenty years on from the fires, fighting, and looting that raged through South Los Angeles neighborhoods in 1992, how do we define the success of revitalization and rebuilding efforts?
"Working as a KPCC reporter is sort of like taking a daily trip to the barbershop. I often get to hear frank, intelligent and compelling opinions on any number of issues – from the goings-on in our nation’s capital to what’s happening in our own backyards."
Earlez Grille started 30 years ago as a hot dog cart that brothers Cary and Duane Earle wheeled to Venice Beach and the Crenshaw Swap Meet. Now it’s a busy restaurant at Crenshaw and Exposition, and it’s putting two of Cary Earle’s kids through college.
On April 29th, twenty years ago, rioting first broke out at the intersection of Florence and Normandie, outside Tom's Liquor in South Central Los Angeles, after news that the officers accused of beating Rodney King were acquitted hit the airwaves.
David Kipen joins the show to discuss an array of books exploring the theme of the L.A. Riots, including "Official Negligence" by Lou Cannon, "Brothers and Sisters" by Bebe Moore Campbell, "Geography of Rage: Remembering the LA Riots of 1992" edited by Jervey Tervalon, "Twilight" by Anna Deveare Smith, "Understand This" by Jervey Tervalon. "The Tattooed Soldier" by Hector Tobar, "Violent Spring" by Gary Phillips, "The New Centurions" by Joseph Wambaugh, "Rivers of Blood, Years of Darkness" by Robert E. Conot, & "A Journey Into the Mind of Watts," an essay by Thomas Pynchon.
Twenty years after the L.A. riots, where are the people who were are at the center of it all? KPCC's Josie Huang speaks to Madeleine Brand about the whereabouts of Rodney King, the LAPD police who beat him, and Reginald Denny, the truck driver who was attacked in the riots.
While Rodney King and Reginald Denny have become household names, another major player in the LA riots was the Los Angeles Police Department, which came under scrutiny for its practices.
Over the last few months, KPCC has been talking with Angelenos about the 1992 Riots, sparked by the acquittals of the LAPD officers accused of beating Rodney King and predicated on the documented historic abuse of blacks and Latinos by the LAPD. Some people -- like the current head of the L.A. Chamber of Commerce – were far away, some were in the middle, like a little girl who remembers how hot the windows of her apartment got as riots burned a nearby building.
"I’ve watched this city fall apart twice in my lifetime. On August 11, 1965, just two days before my birthday, an incident with a cop just a few miles from our house grew into the explosion we now know as the Watts riots."
Share your story: Has LA changed?
Do you remember where you were for the L.A. riots? What images, scenes or stories represent the riots for you? Have we changed as a community? Is another event like the riots of 1992 still possible in Los Angeles? Join the conversation. Tag your tweet #DefineLA and tell us how L.A.'s changed, or find us on Facebook and post your thoughts and memories to our wall. We'll include a selection of reflections below.
