The other day, I found out that Rage Against the Machine's self-titled debut was being reissued today for its 20th anniversary. I can't say how thrilled I was because it's one of the greatest and hardest debut albums ever. Even though I don't have $75 to spend on that full set, it had remember when I spent the summer of 2005 listening to it over and over and loving every bit of it.
(I guess November 1992 was a time for releasing volatile work. Ice Cube released his classic Predator album - the post-LA riot soundtrack until The Chronic came out in December. Spike Lee also released his biopic on Malcolm X in November.)
Anyways, being a huge Rage fan in 2005, I had never listened to a full album despite KROQ playing the singles nonstop. I remember my friend Adam loaned me a copy of the self-titled album to burn before we left for summer break. What happened next was a sonic fury that carried on the legacy of the MC5, Clash and Public Enemy.
“Los Angeles, you broke my heart. And I’m not sure I’ll ever
love you again”
These are the words of LA Times reporter George Ramos on the
front page of their May 4, 1992 edition. When he passed away last year, seeing
his words stuck with me because he was a native son. An East L.A. kid who grew
up to be a reporter. And for one of the darkest periods in L.A. history, he was
stern, honest and ashamed.
After five days of chaos, here was the final report. 53 or 54 people
were dead. Over 4,000 were injured. 12,000 people were arrested (but more than
a third were later released due to lack of clear evidence). Over $1 billion in
property damages. And a city shaken and scarred for the next few years.
There was a lot of soul searching to be done. The deadliest
U.S. riot in the 20th century and the most costly in U.S. history. Parts of
Los Angeles laid smoldering and people from all communities called for peace.
There were rallies in Koreatown and all over South Central. President George
Bush and Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton took time out from their campaigns to
visit the riot torn areas.
A bright spot that emerged was a gang truce that had been
discussed in the days prior to the Rodney King verdict. Bloods and Crips had been
gathering under the leadership of Minister Louis Farrakhan and NFL Hall of
Famer Jim Brown, who donated a large sum of his own money to make this work.
Nearly 300 gang members showed up at City Hall in Watts to
sign the Gang Truce. They were all committed to stem the violence they had been
causing over drugs, territory and senseless beef.
I remember hearing about this while watching a documentary a
few years ago called Bastards of the Party. Former Blood member Cle Sloan (who
you may remember from “Training Day”) showed how positive it was and how he
renounced his lifestyle that led to so many deaths and lives altered.
Even in the ashes of my city, there was hope. And it’s
something that I was very glad to find out about because rival gangs were side-by-side
helping to clean up their mess and their communities. It lasted for several years before it ended due to outside influences, including the LAPD.
Three of the L.A. Four, including Damian Williams (light blue shirt)
Meanwhile, Damian “Football” Williams and three others were
charged with beating Reginald Denny (Williams and others had also beaten Fidel
Lopez and others). Williams received the stiffest penalty because of video
evidence showing him assaulting Denny with the brick. Convicted of misdemeanor
assault and mayhem, he was sentenced to 10 years but released in 1997 for good
behavior.
Henry Watson, one of the attackers, spent 17 months in jail
- credited as time served during his arraignment/trial – and publicly
apologized to Denny and now has a successful limousine business.
Williams was sent back to prison for life for a murder of a
drug dealer. But this past week, he gave an exclusive interview to commentator/critic (and former LA Sentinel colleague) Jasmyne A. Cannick that I found
very informative and enlightening. He appears to be a changed man and also shed
a lot of light on the times back then and today.
The LAPD and Chief Daryl Gates were investigated for flaws
in handling the riots and after initially bristling when asked to step down by
Mayor Tom Bradley (who stepped down himself in 1993 after 20 years) , Gates
stepped down in July 1992. His detached attitude in the early moments of the
riots combined with his gruff attitude towards the mayor and City Council,
those he came into contact with and his paramilitary tactics made the news
something of joy to folks.
Willie Williams (Ed. Note - Williams died in 2016)
Replacing him was Philadelphia Police Commissioner Willie
Williams, the first Black chief in LAPD history. Things looked rosy in that
regard but despite the LAPD being under heavy watch and demand for change, the
culture there didn’t change overnight.
The O.J. Simpson Trial was a reminder that bad apples on the
force still existed – Mark Fuhrman anyone? – and some feel that Simpson being
found not guilty was a bit of payback for the King trial. I believe it’s a
great theory and I’ll also give Johnnie Cochran and his team credit for arguing
a great case masterfully.
It wasn’t until Officer Rafael Perez, a member of the CRASH
Unit at the Rampart Division, was arrested for stealing cocaine in 1998, that
the dark culture inside parts of the department would be revealed at deeper levels. Yet there remains optimism under a new era and current Chief Charlie Beck has made some excellent observations here (for my part, I believe he and the most recent Chief William Bratton have been excellent in repairing relationships)
Federal charges of civil rights violations were brought upon
Sergeant Stacey Koon and Officer Laurence Powell. On April 17, 1993, nearly a
year after the city erupted, Koon and Powell were found guilty and were
sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. Timothy Wind was soon fired after the
riots and Theodore Briseno never found police work again after testifying
against the other three.
Rodney King was awarded $3.8 million in a civil suit. I
don’t need to discuss his post-riot life in more detail since we already know.
Soon Ja Du, the Korean shop owner who killed LaTasha Harlins, now lives in the
San Fernando Valley and her liquor store was burned during the riots.
Above and below, this is Numero Uno Market. It stands now where Empire Liquor, the site of LaTasha Harlins' murder, once stood before it was burned during the riots. It also represents the changing demographics in South Los Angeles from Black to Latino. (Photos by Evan Barnes)
South Central L.A., where most of the riots happened, went a name change in 2003 and is now officially referred to as South Los Angeles to change the stigma around it. It's still hard for me to get used to and as I saw in college, people still called it South Central. It doesn't matter what you call it, honestly. Us natives know what to expect being around there
Many Koreans growing up in L.A. refer to the riots as Sa-i-gu
(translated means 4-2-9). For them, the events shook them to their core at
first. They came to L.A. seeking dreams and a chance to make their lives. They
never knew that because they got liquor licenses and building permits more
readily than Black citizens, they’d be targets. Some dealt with PTSD afterwards.
But perhaps the biggest impact of the riots? The slow, but
swift exodus of the Black population with a housing boom over the next few
years in Antelope Valley (North), Riverside County (East) and other densely
populated areas.
My godmother (and several folks from my church) was among
those who moved to Antelope Valley. She told me that as people moved out of the
area and repairs were slow, it became more gang infested (some areas didn't follow the Gang Truce). I remember years of making that long 2-hour drive
up the 14 Freeway to visit her and loved how nice (and HUGE) her house looked.
What it led to ultimately was a changing demographic in Los Angeles. Similar to the 1970’s when Whites fled urban areas, predominantly
Black areas became Mexican as more immigrants came into the areas. The Black
community became spread out and eventually the power in numbers lessened. However,
social programs soon followed out that way and gangs started making their way
to new territories.
You can see the new demographic trend at many high schools
in the L.A. Unified School District where 20-30 years ago, most schools were
predominantly Black or White and now, all but a handful are mostly Latino. It's reflected in South Los Angeles' demographics going from nearly 48 percent Black and 50 percent Latino in 2000 to 38 and 60, respectively in 2010.
It's also affected high school sports as I've seen firsthand and my friend Ronnie Flores reported for ESPN. Basketball and football teams that were among the most dominant in the state (and sometimes the nation) slowly saw their talent pool move to other areas. Those schools struggle now to stay competitive and second-tier schools that were competitive are now shells of their former selves from 5-10 years ago.
As for me, it’s hard to watch the footage and think that this happened
in my city. My Los Angeles. It feels like a world ago and I saw a collective
anger that I doubt still exists in that capacity here.
I used to think for so long that the anger of the riots was
justified. Like Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rep. Maxine Waters (a freshmen
Congresswoman in 1992) said, it was the outrage of so much frustration and
being treated like prisoners in their own community. It was a response against
Reaganomics – removing social programs and defunding outreach effort –, the
LAPD, and hopelessness around them.
But as I relived the footage, my heart sank. Businesses in
our community were ruined. Lives were uprooted that didn’t need to be. I looked
on it with sadness and the defiance I’ve carried for over a decade melted away
to a point. I understand why Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Ice-T and others
made music that reflected the anger and frustration of so many. I know why
“Boyz N The Hood” and “Menace II Society” were so vivid and captivating in
preaching the truth about growing up in South Central.
Yet I can’t sit down and accept that we burned our city
down. We burned up lives. We burned up our strongholds that have been shaken
and (in some cases) still aren’t where it used to be. I drove down Crenshaw
Boulevard for the better part of four years (2006-2010) and all I could think
of what was it used to be – a thriving epicenter of Black Los Angeles. Just
like Central Avenue.
I watched those videos of angry and saddened shop owners. I
watched the looting. I felt the same way I felt when I heard about the few who
did that in the aftermath of the Oscar Grant trial. What does looting have to
do with anger? Why didn’t we go out to Simi Valley and Beverly Hills to cause
ruckus? I know people targeted police cars but why not send a bigger message to
them?
But I also can’t just be mad at those 5 days without knowing
what caused it. It wasn’t because of Rodney King or LaTasha Harlins. It was
decades of injustice and second-class treatment. It was people who felt like
their voice was silenced and they needed to speak up the only way they felt
how.
It’s a moment that forever impacted my city. 20 years has
gone so fast and this excellent gallery via the Daily Beast shows how some areas have been repaired and others haven't. As I think about how affected the Black/Korean communities in
addition to L.A., I feel optimistic about the future yet always mindful to
never forget the past. This series has taught me so much and I hope it has for
anybody who reads it.
(Update - Both the LA Times and LA Daily News (my current employer) have done a great job looking back at the LA Riots for the 25th anniversary. Links have been provided)
April 29, 1992. Sublime asked the question “There was a riot
on the streets, tell me where were you?” I was at Rancho Cienega Park in Los
Angeles, practicing with my T-Ball team. Mom dropped my sister and I off and
instead of usually sticking around, she went to do some shopping. She came back
and picked us up to go home.
On our way home, we drove down Crenshaw Boulevard like usual.
Mom told me recently that she noticed people acting crazy and asking people to
honk down the street. She thought it was a celebration – she didn’t notice any
looting or any criminal activity – and she honked back and waved at people. I
vaguely remember this as I was probably tired but I think I waved at people
too, the nice kid I was.
Only when we got home did we figure out why Crenshaw was going nuts. We heard the news of the verdict and that Los Angeles was erupting in flames with rampant looting. Consider me in shock and awe.
A few blocks away (1.5 miles to be exact) from my elementary
school, the epicenter of the riots was heating up on Florence and Normandie.
Crowds gathered between 5 and 6 p.m. and two dozen officers actually retreated
from the scene. Similar crowds gathered downtown at Parker Center, LAPD
headquarters. By 6:45 p.m., folks at Florence and Normandie started throwing
things at cars and looting.
Soon afterwards, the vicious beating of Reginald Denny took
place. Simply because he was a White man at the wrong place, at the wrong time.
He was beaten as viciously as King was – brick to the head, assaulted by a mob
and nearly left for dead if not for a civilian who saw the news footage live
and rushed out to save him. Not as widely known is the beating of Fidel Lopez,
a Guatemalan immigrant in the same area. Lopez was beaten unconscious and
spray-painted black by a mob that included some of Denny’s assailants.
Both Lopez and Denny were rescued by Black civilians. A
reminder that not everybody’s mind was on vengeance and there were rays of hope
in darkness. And how dark it was.
Day 1 (Wednesday, April 29): Fires and lawlessness sparked
around the city at Florence/Normandie and various spots in South Central.
Downtown, crowds were getting furious at Parker Center and took out their anger
at various vehicles and spots, including the LA Times. Empire Liquor, where
LaTasha Harlins was killed, was a target.
Mayor Tom Bradley called for a state of emergency, a night curfew and
told reporters that he believed the situation was simmering.
He was wrong as during the night, fires kept popping up. My
godmother lived near 39th and Western St. and she said the fires
were coming so fast, they couldn’t believe it. The LA Fire Department reported
at least 3 new fires were being reported per minute. It felt like the world was
going to end, my Mom said.
The LAPD response was strange. In addition to the officers
who ran away, they didn’t respond with the speed and power seen during
Operation Hammer. Instead it appeared they let things unfold for a while before
taking swift, organized action. Police Chief Daryl Gates drove to a fundraiser
in Brentwood. They appeared as caught off guard (or detached in Gates’ case,
esp since he and Mayor Bradley hadn’t spoken in a year.) as anybody and it only
added to the chaos and fear around the city.
From left, Tom Bradley, California Gov. Pete Wilson and LAPD Chief Daryl Gates address reporters about bringing in the National Guard. I love this photo because the distance between Bradley and Gates is emblematic of how close they weren't in the year prior to the riots.
It’s safe to assume nobody could’ve expected the response.
So much so, that the National Guard had been called in by Governor Pete Wilson.
The whole Harbor Freeway from downtown to Inglewood had exits closed off (6.6
miles)
Day 2 (April 30): Things began to heat up as due to the
police response. From Inglewood to Compton to South Central to West LA to
Pasadena, you could see more fires and widespread looting. Schools were closed,
buses were closed, the Dodgers and Clippers had games cancelled.
Some of my friends today who lived on the Westside said they
saw fires all the way over there. The National Guard wasn’t deployed until noon
– delayed by not having ammunition – and by then, the city’s leaders finally
had a plan of action. By nightfall,
4,000 troops were in L.A. County with more to come and the U.S. military was on
high alert.
School was closed for us. So we stayed home and at one point,
Mom took us outside to the park. My sister thought it was snowing but in fact,
it was ashes from the fire. By nightfall, sunset curfews were set all over
South Central but also Long Beach, Inglewood, Culver City, Hawthorne, Hermosa
Beach, Torrance, Carson and Pomona, to name a few.
Flights at LA International Airport were also being diverted due
to smoke and some flights were cancelled.
Folks had to get used to seeing armed National Guardsmen
walk around the city. Mom told me she saw them and got scared. My cousin in
Carson remembered feeling the same way seeing them outside a grocery store. It
reminded us that we were indeed in a warzone. In less than 36 hours, Los
Angeles went from calm to an explosion that many felt would never end.
After seeing their stores torched all around, they armed
themselves and there’s incredible footage/pictures of them engaging in
shootouts. They became vigilantes while
some tried to repair relations. And
honestly can you blame them? The Empire Liquor store where LaTasha Harlins was killed was
the target of several firebombs before it was eventually burned down.
Mayor Tom Bradley went on The Arsenio Hall show that night
to appeal to the people (Arsenio did the same here with Rev. Chip
Murray). Bill Cosby addressed the nation
and Los Angeles in particular before the series finale of The Cosby Show,
encouraging people to stop rioting and watch his show. I found that ironic that
Cosby would use that platform, considering The Cosby Show fed mainstream
America a safe, yet culturally proud version of middle-class Blackness.
“You had to get Rodney to stop me or else we would’ve torn this MF up” – Ice Cube.
By Day 3 (May 1), the National Guard was in full effect and
Rodney King broke his silence. King had been under wraps since he was beaten 13
months prior and he recently admitted that he nearly put on a wig and ventured
to areas erupting in riots. As he told the LA Times’ Kurt Streeter:
"I
couldn't believe what I was seeing," he says. "Mayhem, people
everywhere, pissed off, looting, burning. Gunshots. I turned back and went
home. I looked at all of that and I thought to the way I was raised, with good
morals from my mother, even though I didn't always follow them.
"I said to myself, 'That is not who I am,
all this hate. I am not that guy. This does not represent me or my family,
killing people over this. No, sir, that is not the way I was raised by my
mother.' I began to realize that I had to say something to the people, had to
try to get them to stop."
With that, he said those five words that would never be
forgotten.
It was an earnest cry and on this longer video, you hear his
sporadic speech. See his ticks as he’s still feeling the effects of the
beating. Yet even he didn’t know what to say. And really what could you say?
The mob mentality of April 29 and April 30 was both sad and
angering. You felt the genuine anger but when you watch it deteriorate into
lawlessness, violence and destruction, you forget your defiance and you start
feeling sad. Sad that my city was on fire.
When school returned, my 2nd grade teacher asked
all of us to write our thoughts down. Every single one of us did. I wrote about
how the Thrifty drug store on Crenshaw Boulevard where I always had Ice Cream
was destroyed. A classmate drew a picture where he and his sister were running
from the flames.
This used to be a Thrifty Ice Cream store on Crenshaw Boulevard. I used to go here all the time as a kid. It burned down in 1992. I took this photo on April 30, 2012 just to show that it still stands as an empty building. There are quite a few on the 'Shaw like this and I'd see them driving to and from the Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper. (Photo by Evan Barnes)
I don’t remember if the school did anything like an assembly
but I remember riding down Crenshaw for the coming months and seeing “Black
Owned” in the front of businesses. That was a way to keep folks from burning
them down. My friends often made jokes, often referring to this Living Colour skit with David Alan Grier/Jim Carrey.
I didn’t realize it but there were similar protests around
the country and instances of violence in Eugene (Oregon), Las Vegas and Tampa
(Florida). The whole country was outraged and in an election year, you had President Bush and Governor Bill Clinton speaking up on the riots carefully but forcefully.
Musically, hip-hop seemed ready to make its voice even
louder. Some blamed the music for the riots but for me, it warned people of its
arrival and reflected the anger.
Ice Cube’s 3rd album “The Predator” became the first album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and R&B Album charts when released in November 1992. It captured the anger
perfectly with tracks like “Wicked”, the title track, "Who Got the Camera" “When Will They Shoot” and the track I’ve
been quoting here, “We Had to Tear this MF Up.” Even Dr. Dre’s classic debut
“The Chronic” had the song “The Day The N’z Took Over” where he, Daz, RBX and
Snoop Dogg rapped their thoughts on April 29.
Two years before they blew up, punk band The Offspring
jumped in with their song “LAPD” decrying police brutality. As I mentioned at
the start, Sublime sang about being involved in the riots on their classic ode
“April 29, 1992”. Rage Against the Machine no doubt channeled the anger into their classic debut as "Killing in the Name" could easily describe the angst many felt toward the LAPD.
Of course, Ice-T offered his two cents with his heavy metal
band Body Count and their most infamous song “Cop Killer.”
Considering L.A. was calming down, “Cop Killer” was the most
incendiary track since “F—k The Police” (Ice Cube’s Black Korea probably didn’t
get much attention since it wasn’t a single.). It was the most radical of
protest songs and people didn’t think about it like Talking Heads’ “Psycho
Killer” or Eric Clapton’s tame cover of Bob Marley’s “I Shot the Sheriff”.
Police unions,
President Bush, Vice-President Dan Quayle, Charlton Heston and folks around the
country got upset and many threatened to boycott Time Warner for releasing Body
Count’s album. Time Warner/Ice-T later removed the track from future pressings after a standoff.
(Not that I advocate murder, but too often people hear the
range/offensive words without listening to the tone/intent. If someone in the
inner city felt that the police were murdering innocent folks, it’s quite
possible that somebody could feel the way Ice’s character felt in the song. Not
justifying it but saying that rage existed and needed to be addressed so it
could be channeled.)
The rioting technically continued until May 3 but the
majority of it was done by May 1 before the National Guard, Marine Corps and
LAPD finally had the city under control. Yet it was a scary time. My godmother
could only pray as she watched it. Many were confused or angry at the
destruction affecting us within instead of targeting more affluent areas or the
police departments.
I’ll have more to say in Part 5 on my thoughts on it all,
which have evolved even as I write this. But I’ll leave you with something Mom
always told me about her reaction.
She drove us to church that Sunday, May 3. She remembers
driving on the Santa Monica Freeway and seeing burned out buildings all over
the place. Tears started streaming down her face. Ultimately, that’s the
lasting image of those crazy days. Anger, fear, disappointment, disbelief,
shock and sadness.
By the time the Rodney King trial started on March 4, 1992,
the world had seen what those four cops did to him. The world was watching
movies like Do the Right Thing and Boyz N The Hood highlight the urban
experience in grittier, harsher fashion than Blaxploitation films in the
1970’s. They were listening to rappers
like Ice Cube, Ice-T, Public Enemy and others decry police brutality and
reflect the environment of Black communities around the country.
For the first time, people were questioning the LAPD’s harsh
tactics and there was hope things could change. Before becoming Secretary of
State under Bill Clinton, Warren Christopher was an attorney who spearheaded a
commission to investigate the structure and operation of the LAPD. The Christopher Commission, similar to the McCone Commission after the Watts Riots, released its findings in the summer of 1991. A sampling follows:
“Los Angeles should have a Police Department whose Chief is
accountable to civilian officials for the department’s performance and where
ranking officers are responsible for the conduct of those they lead. The Police
Commission needs new personnel, more resources and an enhanced commitment to
carrying out its duties under the Charter. Ugly incidents will not diminish
until ranking officers know they will be held responsible for what happens in
their sector, whether or not they personally participate."
Of the approximately 1,800 officers that had allegations of
excessive force, the Commission found that more than 1,400 had only 1 or 2 allegations. Yet 183 officers
had four or more allegations of excessive force or improper tactics. 44 police
officers from 1986 to 1990 had six or more allegations. Yet those officers were
usually given positive performance evaluations.
What the Commission revealed was a culture of racism/bias/discriminatory
practices. It revealed that the mostly White police department was encouraging
this and it created tensions that showed what happened to Rodney King was not
an anomaly.
The Commission called for plenty of reform, transparency and
accountability as well for Chief Daryl Gates to step aside after his
long-tenured service. Yet to nobody’s surprise, once Richard Riordan was
elected mayor in 1993, the Christopher Commission’s ideas were either carried out
slowly or eventually ignored by the late 1990’s.
Clockwise from top left, Stacey Koon, Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind and Theodore Briseno
Meanwhile, we still had a trial to watch. Four officers
(Sgt. Stacey Koon and Officers Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind and Theodore
Briseno) were charged with beating Rodney King and we figured it’d be a
slam-dunk case right? Since everybody had seen the video and you had senators
decrying the beating. But here’s where the justice system screwed up despite
having a Black prosecutor.
1. The trial was moved to Simi Valley due to oversaturation
of the media coverage swaying jurors. Need to know how lilywhite Simi Valley
is? It’s home to the Ronald Reagan Museum – the president whose policies deeply
affected the inner cities and poorer people.
2. On that note, the jurors ultimately selected? 10 White
people, one Latino and one Asian-American. Remember that I’ve already pointed
out the two worlds of Los Angeles and that many in the outside of South Central
world blamed the South Central world for its problems. A homogenous jury did
not bode well for that.
Factor that all in and it STILL is surprising that despite
overwhelming evidence, 29 days of testimony and 55 witnesses, 3 of the officers
(Koon, Wind and Briseno) were found not guilty and Laurence Powell was
acquitted on a hung jury who deadlocked on one count of excessive force.
Powell’s charge took up most of the seven days of deliberation as within six
(!!!) hours, the jury was clear on the not guilty verdicts.
*It should be noted that Briseno testified against the other
three and Powell delivered the lion’s share of the blows. How the jury was
confused about Powell’s role and not Briseno who admitted to stomping King but
backed off and even restrained an officer is beyond me.
President George W. Bush was sickened by the verdict. LA
Mayor Tom Bradley criticized the verdict saying it wouldn’t blind them to what
the world saw. I had no idea what would happen after practice when the verdict
was read. My 2nd grade classmates and I talked about
Rodney King but I was more focused on playing my 1st
season of T-Ball.
Looking back, that verdict makes me angry. It defies all
logic and common sense and there is nobody who could watch that tape and tell
me Rodney King deserved that beating. One juror admitted she was pressured to
acquit but refused to do so in Powell’s case. The two worlds of Los Angeles saw
the same thing and some chose to see it differently than the majority of us.
Nobody in the city could’ve expected the hell and furious
anger that was about to erupt in a frightening way.
21 years later, Rodney King is still a scarred man. He’s
more well known almost for his legal troubles than as the man nearly beaten to
death in Lakeview Terrace. For most of my life, I’ve looked at him with pity –
trying harder to remember why he’s been on this path instead of just scold him
for keeping his life a mess.
I read my friend Kurt Streeter’s profile of him in the LA Times and I saw a man at peace with the men who attacked him. Yet he was also scarred
by brain damage, jumpy around cops and struggling to deal with the hand he’s
been dealt. He also isn’t blaming himself for his troubles. It was a sympathetic
portrayal and yet I didn’t just feel pity – I felt angry too.
To be fair, King has caused most of his problems. His rap
sheet reads like a laundry list of trouble and embarrassment – alcoholism, domestic
disputes and reckless driving among a few before he tried to fix his problems on Celebrity Rehab. But one thing is
clear, it does not excuse what happened to him on March 2/3, 1991, and it
doesn’t hide the fact he’s a living reminder of Operation Hammer’s effect on
the Black community.
As I showed in Part 1, the LAPD’s rampant use of excessive
force in handling the drug/gang problem increased tensions between them and the
Black community that had been simmering since the 1960’s. It made people assume
that Black people were criminals and believed they contributed to the arrests.
The conflict of the two worlds – glamorous and hood – came
together on that fateful night The night that Rodney King and two friends had
just finished watching a basketball game and were speeding on the 210 Freeway.
We know that King was on parole, going at least 90-117 mph the freeway and had
a blood alcohol level of 0.19 – twice the legal limit.
King and his crew ended up in Lakeview Terrace (the link has the exact corner) with police
cars and helicopters in tow. His two friends exited the car and were detained
without problem. King, however, didn’t get out so easily. According to reports,
he was waving to the helicopter and acting erratic before he went to the
ground. Sergeant Stacey Koon ordered four officers – Laurence Powell, Theodore
Briseno, Rolando Solano and Timothy Wind to swarm King to subdue him but King
resisted.
The officers fell back and assumed he was on PCP, later to
be disproven. Then came the Taser and the beating. 56 shots with batons, kicks and more. It looks
like lions seizing on prey and thankfully George Holliday had his video camera as shown below.
Just looking at King’s battered face/body is chilling and it doesn't capture the kidney, brain and leg damage he also suffered.
As a 7-year-old, I didn’t understand why he was beaten so
much. But watching that video now, I got reminded of what a slave beating must
have looked like. Excessive punishment for a crime. King was beaten so many
times that after a while, you have to ask why? My barber told me the other day
he thought they killed him. I remember back in 1991, Nick News did a feature on
it talking to kids about what happened.
No matter if King committed a crime or not, you cannot
justify that much force used to beat him. It got national attention for a
reason and I’ll never forget seeing it to open “Malcolm X” or hearing
then-Senator Bill Bradley express his outrage.
But in talking about Rodney King, you can’t forget about
what happened two weeks later. The murder of 15-year-old LaTasha Harlins. A
reminder of a side of 1980’s Los Angeles that rarely gets discussed: The
tensions between Asian-American shop owners and Blacks.
LaTasha Harlins
I didn’t notice any tensions growing up. I lived near
Koreatown and my apartment complex had Korean neighbors. We were all friendly
and I remember playing around with them often. Yet unknown to me,
Asian-Americans who owned liquor stores were a source of frustration to many in
the community. They assumed Black customers were out to rob them and Black
folks resented them owning property in their community (something you
can see in Do the Right Thing).
Ice Cube made a song about this called “Black Korea”,
ironically quoting that movie. It’s probably one of his most vicious
songs but it summarizes the tension as well.
Harlins was a student at Westchester High School who was
buying orange juice at a liquor store. The shop owner accused her of stealing
and lunged at her. They fought briefly and then the owner, Soon Ja Du, shot
Harlins in the back of the head. She claimed self-defense and robbery to her
husband but the chilling video and testimony of witnesses proved it was wrong.
Watching it gave me a sad feeling and reminded me of Trayvon Martin’s case more
than Rodney King did.
Soon Ja Du and her husband
A cousin of mine was an alternate on the jury and in our brief discussion, she told me (among other things) that Ja Du’s husband lied twice. First, he testified that two people robbed the
store, something the video disproved. Second, he told the 911 operation they
had been robbed while on another phone, he told a family member what actually
happened as he stood and moved over Harlins’ dead body.
Ja Du’s trial saw her convicted of manslaughter and while
the jury recommended she get 16 years, the judge overruled it and gave her 5
years probation, a $500 fine and community service. It was an egregious
miscarriage of justice – and one that haunts me thinking about George Zimmerman
facing 2nd degree murder for killing Martin.
My cousin never forgot that the way Harlins was shot, she
died before hitting the floor. She never forgot seeing the money in her hand as
her cold body lay on the floor on the video. What the prosecutor told her remains haunting: You can never
claim self-defense after throwing the first punch.
As the video above shows, a Korean man who abused a dog got
30 days in jail while Ja Du barely got anything for shooting down a girl after
a scuffle. It says volumes about how
Black life was valued back then by the system.
There was finally video evidence of some of the injustices
and people couldn’t turn away anymore. The
four officers (Koon, Powell, Briseno and Wind) would be charged in court. The
outrage over Ja Du’s light sentence brought a frustrated community together and
there was hope that the King verdict would change.
Yet as I think about Rodney King still living his life and I
feel some pity for him, I feel sadder for LaTasha Harlins, who never got to see her
life realized. Both of them are intertwined with the harsh climate of
1980’s/1990’s Los Angeles and both are reminders of how bad it got for unknown
victims everyday under the Gates regime and in the city.
On the surface, Los Angeles in the 1980’s looked like the place to be. You had the 1984 Olympics becoming the most profitable Games in modern history. “Beverly Hills Cop” did for the Beverly Hills/LA what Miami Vice did for Miami in terms of attractiveness. The sports teams were thriving with the Showtime Lakers, the Dodgers riding Fernandomania in 1981 and Kirk Gibson/Orel Hershisher in 1988 to championships, the Raiders winning in 1984 with USC star Marcus Allen and the Kings in the early 80’s before somehow pulling a monster trade to get Wayne Gretzky.
We had a Black mayor in Tom Bradley, only the 2nd in a major city at the time of his election in 1973.
Not to mention the Sunset Strip was alive and well as hair metal bands like Motley Crue owned the scene while alternative bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fishbone, Jane’s Addiction and more began carving out a niche as local heroes. Yep, my city was looking good to the visiting eye.
But beneath the surface, there was a lot going on most didn’t know about. In South Central and other urban areas, the crack epidemic hit furious and hard. The gangs changed from guarding territory to becoming more violent. Reaganomics were forcing people to seek extreme measures to find money and security and the drug/gang game proved too tempting for many.
At the center of this was a former star tennis player at Dorsey High School named Ricky Ross who became a small-time criminal in the late 1970’s. By 1980, Ross got introduced to cocaine and became a dealer in Compton/South Central. He made a small profit and then got hooked up even more through Nicaraguan connects Oscar Blandon and Norwin Canterero. By 1982, he was Freeway Ricky leading and organizing distribution and selling of crack cocaine – a cheaper, yet more potent high – throughout L.A. as well as other cities around the country.
Through the drug trade, Ross was friends with the Crips and they used the profits from selling drugs to purchase heavy artillery as well as cars, jewelry and more. It changed the landscape of those communities, ruined family lives and made those areas even more dangerous. It changed the gang lifestyle because as they got more involved in the drug game, turf wars became more violent and innocent folks became victims.
This is the Los Angeles I was born and grew up in when I lived near L.A. High School. My parents kept my sister and me very insulated from most of this but by 5/6 years old, I knew about gangs. I had seen the D.A.R.E. program at my elementary school. I may have been raised on cartoons and cereal (word to Kendrick Lamar) but I knew certain things. Maybe not to a deep extent, but I was aware.
I came to find out later that the apartment complex I stayed in had a landlord who allowed people to sell drugs and rob our neighbors. My area wasn’t a bad area but occasionally you’d see folks hanging around that looked suspicious. It was part of the climate.
These two worlds – the glitz and glamour vs. the gang/drug cultures – were at odds and they still dominate what people perceive LA as. But back then, the gang/drug culture threatened to make the L.A. look like the Wild, Wild West. And the LA Police Department stood in the middle to make sure it wouldn’t happen.
A famous image from the 1965 Watts Riots (also immortalized on the Roots' classic 1999 album Things Fall Apart)
The LAPD already had a bad taste in some folks’ mouths after the 1965 Watts riots, a 4-day uprising that was one of the first major race riots in the civil rights era and at the time the worst in the city’s history. Then-chief William Parker was notorious for implementing the chokehold to subdue suspects and hiring police officers from the South to “help” control the Black population. His name, I later learned during my time at the LA Sentinel, is still a dirty word to older members of the Black community.
With the crack epidemic/gang violence escalating out of control (a high publicized shooting in 1988 left an innocent bystander dead in Westwood and made people even more fearful), action had to be taken. Leading the way was LAPD Chief Daryl Gates, an authoritative figure who for better and worse laid a heavy hand on areas/people affected by this.
A disciple of Parker’s intimidation and suppression of Black youth without evidence, Gates was police chief from 1978-1992 and he already showed his heavy hand when he (with Mayor Bradley’s blessing) organized gang sweeps in 1984 before the Olympics. Allegedly 25,000 were taken to jail, yet most of them had no charged filed against them. He had enough influence to intimidate those around him, including the media. He openly spied on high-profile figures and planted police to either gather information or start riots (famously the 1982 May Day attack)**
As an officer in 1968, it was Gates who developed the first S.W.A.T. units. He initially named them Special Weapons Assault Team but the name was too military in the mind of his boss. Under his watch as chief, the LAPD became nationally known for being tough on crime and using military influences to subdue the Black population. Outsiders praised it; the community feared and hated it.
Throw all that in a crockpot – along with a mostly White police department – and consider what was about to be unleashed in the mid-1980s. With the War on Drugs in full swing nationally and laws being changed to punish drug users severely, Gates responded to the crack/gang epidemic with two programs. The school-safe D.A.R.E. program and the creation of the C.R.A.S.H. units.
C.R.A.S.H. (Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums) had the free reign to do whatever necessary to fight gang violence and lived up to its name with raids all over South Central. The raids came fell under “Operation Hammer” and it was an initiative to show that the LAPD was taking back the streets.
Unfortunately, the raids were more rounding up/questioning/arresting/sometimes assaulting innocent folks. One such raid came about as residents complained about drug dealers in the areas yet as 88 police swarmed the area, drugs became a secondary concern.
Two apartments buildings were ransacked and police left their own graffiti as they rustled up residents, arresting folks at will. It cost up to $4 million in damages and no police officers were charged with any crimes, crimes they initially blamed on gang members. 25 policemen were suspended without pay. Many residents who were arrested were also not charged.
The biggest flaw in this raid? No oversight, no control from the LAPD, no tactical planning to handle this situation better. Yet from observers at the time, this type of behavior happened often during Operation Hammer from 1987-1990. Folks were put into databases as gang members with or without proof and when they were stopped, they were treated as such. The LA Times reported that by 1992, 47% of Black males in LA were classified as gang members.
Instead of making the public feel safer, they added to more tensions and perceptions. Of the 50,000 people allegedly arrested during Operation Hammer (the most since the Watts Riots), the majority of them were Black. In one weekend for example, 1,453 were arrested. A cousin of mine told me her son and his friends were driving around and when police stopped them, they were ordered out of the car and forced to lie down while searched (they never got a ticket or were arrested). Most of the folks arrested weren’t charged with anything and it only enhanced a perception that Blacks and Latinos were criminals.
- This is a big reason why as a young man, I was taught how to handle the police. “Yes, sir.” “No, Sir” Don’t make any sudden moves…
This was standard procedure due to heightened awareness of the LAPD yet it created more conflict and mistrust with the police. As I’ll show later, the CRASH units tactics it would prove costly in the late 1990’s with the Rampart scandal.
You can see this in films like “Boyz N The Hood”, “The Wood” and “Colors”. You can hear it in the raps of Toddy Tee’s “Batter Ram” – a song describing a tank-like vehicle used to break open suspected drug houses. Of course, they didn’t always catch the right house and the LAPD never apologized for their mistake.
Most of you probably know two of my city’s finest artists who captured this anger. Ice-T started it off with “6 N The Mornin” and later described the gang life perfectly in “Colors.” And then 5 guys led by a former drug dealer turned businessman amped it up further with a little album called Straight Outta Compton and a track that told the police how they felt called "F--- The Police"
You might hate NWA but along with Ice-T, they articulated the anger of a community. When Ice Cube left NWA to go solo, he carried that anger into his classic solo albums. Young Black men felt like they were being hunted and even if you were on the right path, you were a target because you fit the profile. Black women, too, felt like targets and had anger over their sons/cousins and more being targeted on a whim.
All of this is important to understand before we get to discuss Rodney King. Because before you see him, you have to see my city. A war between two worlds and an overzealous/overworked police department that treated their involvement like soldiers with full speed ahead from their leader/general. A drug trade that caused so many scars and open wounds that we are still recovering from. And a community that felt beaten down and terrorized for years without anybody listening to their concerns. There were multiple tensions and all it needed was a powder keg.
One final note. Another underlying tension was that liquor stores were owned by Asian-Americans, who didn’t trust their Black clientele that were always hanging around. As Part 2 will show, that was just as key an issue as the LAPD task forces and drugs.
Next week, I'm unveiling a project that means a lot to me. My retrospective of the Los Angeles Riots as the 20th anniversary. Why am I doing it? Why does it mean so much to me? This video explains it all.
I'm also sharing the link to my old 2009 article that quickly summarized the Riots in the aftermath of the staff meeting I discussed in the video. I'm using this as inspiration to go deeper and revisit/research some stories.
In addition to Ice Cube's Death Certificate/The Predator albums, I'm also being inspired by songs from the 2011 album "LA Riot" by Thurz, an LA rapper who decided to revisit the 20th anniversary in his own provocative way. So join me as I take a walk back down Memory Lane.
I was reading this story on Grantland by Chuck Klosterman on him respecting but not rooting for Kentucky and it made realize something. The youngest and most dominant team in the nation could be the culmination of what the Fab Five started 20 years ago at Michigan.
I'll start by saying I'm not a big fan of John Calipari only because his style of coaching/arrogance has seen his teams fall brilliantly short. 2007-08 Memphis had the best starting 5 in the nation and lost a national title because they couldn't hit free throws or defend Mario Chalmers. 2009-2010 Kentucky had John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Patrick Patterson and all that talent and lost in the Elite Eight because of free throws and losing to a better coached squad.
Calipari's team play a freewheeling style where a brilliant point guard runs the show without a bunch of set plays. It's fun to watch but as I've seen covering the HS game, you need clear sets with clear vision down the stretch. Freewheeling teams despite talent don't always win. Well Cal is proving me wrong this year.
This Kentucky team with Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Terrence Jones, Doron Lamb and more is one of the best two-way teams in the country. Davis is the best defensive freshman I've seen in a while and his offensive game (while still raw) is improving every game. MKG is a sneaky good all-around player who'll be a lottery pick. But they are well balanced (6 guys averaging double figures) and they play airtight defense in addition to scoring with ease.
And they're doing this while starting 3 freshmen and 2 sophomores. 20 years removed from the Fab Five, the college game has become more and more dominated by younger players making an impact faster.
The Fab Five turned college basketball upside down when Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson all started together in February 1992. They were brash freshmen who upset traditionalists because of their attitude but they also played a sound, team game. People don't say this enough but the Fab 5 - for all their arrogance, trash-talk, attitude - played fundamentally, exciting basketball.
(Proof? Chris Webber became one of the best passing big men in recent memory, Jalen Rose had an solid NBA career and played in the NBA Finals, Juwan Howard is still balling for Miami. Remind me how many guys from 1992 Duke and 1993 UNC had successful NBA careers besides Grant Hill?)
While Georgetown had a bigger social impact and UNLV played the same style while winning a title, the Fab Five not just inspired Black fans and young fans, they showed the future of basketball. Before them, few freshmen made an impact. Before 1991, Wayman Tisdale and Chris Jackson were the only Freshmen 1st Team All-Americans. Pervis Ellison was the Final Four MVP helping Louisville win the 1986 National Title. Kenny Anderson in 1990 was a freshman leading Georgia Tech leading to the Final 4 as a 3rd team AA selection
The Fab 5 showed that freshmen and sophomores wouldn't just be content to wait their turn if they were ready right now. And thanks to the NBA forcing kids to stay in college at least one year, that system went into overdrive.
Flash forward to 2007 - Kevin Durant and Greg Oden as freshmen became First Team All-Americans and Durant became National Player of the Year. That same year in high school, seniors Derrick Rose, Eric Gordon, Kevin Love, Michael Beasley, OJ Mayo and Kyle Singler were expected to shine right away the next year. And they did.
Beasley and Love became 1st Team AA's. Gordon and Rose made the 3rd team. Love got to the Final Four to lose to Rose and Memphis. All but Singler left after that 2007-08 season and became lottery picks. The game change was in full effect. Now college became a 1-and-done paradise or a glorified minor leagues where top freshmen would automatically be among the top 20-25 players in bball.
It hasn't manifested itself into a national championship yet - again, good coaching, more seasonally developed players typically win out - but if anybody does it, wouldn't surprise me if it's John Calipari, who has jumped on this trend faster and with greater success/blowback than anyone expected. He's changed players so quick that I can't name too many juniors and seniors he's coached in the last 5 years besides Chris Douglas-Roberts or the rest of the Memphis starters. But instead of most coaches hating it, he's honest about the game and a willing supporter of it (while also making sure his kids are fully aware of the game and don't walk into blindly).
In a sense, Calipari is like Jerry Tarkanian, the controversial yet beloved shepherd of the UNLV dynasty in the 80's and early 90's. I don't necessarily agree with his logic but I can't hate the game. Three Final Fours in five years, last year's kids being hailed for their IQ (esp. Brandon Knight's GPA) and this year's kids being praised for their unselfishness as well as their dominance.
Ironically, Cal's controversy (1996 UMass and 2008 Memphis technically don't exist) is similar to how the Fab Five era technically doesn't exist due to NCAA violations. But one lesson from the Fab Five was that eventually folks would legally find ways to recruit the best freshmen and find the same success without the NCAA coming down with the hammer.
Does it ultimately hurt the college game? It waters down the overall product among other factors. But where I disagree with Klosterman is that it turns recruiting into a privileged game. Kids play for schools with 1) big names, 2) family ties, 3) excellent coaches, 4) proven track records of success, 5) friendships and more. Winning always attracts players and I don't see anybody complaining about it in college football - albeit there's more players but it's also become a game of the rich getting richer.
Last year, Kentucky made the Final Four with a far-less talented roster than the John Wall club but no scandal. Now they are reloaded with a mix of last year's and this year's freshmen and even better than ever.You might hate Kentucky but if they win the NCAA title, they'll be the final step in the rebelution (yes, I said rebelution) the Fab Five started 20 years ago. 19 and 20-year old kids dominating the college game and changing conventional wisdom.
“April 29, 1992. There was a riot on the streets, tell me where were you?” (Sublime)
It’s been 17 years since the Los Angeles Riots took the city captive and a nation by storm for nearly a week (April 29-May 4, although the worst of it was over by May 1 when the Nat'l Guard came in)
I remember being a 7-year-old watching the news and just in shock. You could see smoke from buildings in the sky, you could see buildings that you got comfortable in being looted. I remember a Thrifty’s that we always went to for ice cream being burned out.
On either April 30 or May 1, my second grade teacher asked us all to raise a hand if we knew a building that was burned or had a story to tell. Every one of us raised our hands (20+ kids) and we all had to write those stories as well as our feelings. The irony of being at school was that we weren’t too far from the epicenter of the riots: Florence and Normandie.
That time feels like ages ago. A time when Black communities in L.A. were ready to explode over rampant police abuse. They had just gotten over the effect of Freeway Ricky Ross’ cocaine empire turning the streets into the Wild Wild West. They had to deal with rising tensions with the Korean community and shop owners. And then came a series of incidents that forced all hell to break loose on April 29.
First, we all know about Rodney King getting beaten in that grainy home video. I remember Nick News doing a special on it as a kid but at the time I was naïve to a lot of the nonsense going on behind the scenes. As a result, it was the first time I ever heard of Simi Valley (where the trial of the officers was held) and I remember seeing the LA Times headline after the verdict: NOT GUILTY
But what most people don’t know is that 13 days in after King’s beating, there was another major powder keg. 15-year-old Latasha Harlins was shot and killed after a Korean store owner mistakenly thought she was robbing the store. The owner was let off with five years’ probation and a fine despite the jury recommending a much longer sentence. Needless to say, that didn’t go over well with Black folks.
Throw all that together plus years of frustration and BOOOM! There goes the neighborhood (I remember seeing the rise of “Black-Owned Business” signs to prevent them from being burned)
At the same time, you had L.A. rappers making the most powerful music of their career to fit the mood before and after the riots. No one did this better than Ice Cube. If his second album, Death Certificate, hinted at some issues with “Black Korea”, his next album, The Predator, was practically the riot’s theme music with references littered all over it. None more obvious than “We had to Tear This MF Up,” a tale describing someone’s instant reaction to the riots.
Everyone knows Dr. Dre’s The Chronic for its classic hits but right after “Dre Day,” he’s got a joint describing the mood of most looters “The Day The N***az Took Over” featuring RBX and Snoop Dogg. Arguably one of the best songs is the one I posted at the start: Sublime “April 29, 1992” which came out four years later.
But of course, the most famous song of the year (besides Smells Like Teen Spirit) would come courtesy of L.A.’s gangsta poet laureate Ice-T and his metal band Body Count. A little ditty called “Cop Killer.”
(One more music note, an indie punk band from Orange County made a song called "LAPD" talking about it in 92. They blew up two years later and then of course we all knew who they were. You might have heard of them - The Offspring)
Another thing about this was for the first time, rival gangs stopped killing each other and joined forces against a common enemy. Bloods and Crips realized that there was a bigger enemy than and famously called a cease-fire. That’s the big thing about this event: these people were united behind a common theme and it brought a sense of pride that many may not understand. How can people be united to commit crimes and property damages? As I’ve demonstrated, there were plenty of factors.
But enough looking back, what has happened since? 17 years later, the aftermath is pretty interesting. Compton is starting to revive itself under the new moniker “Birthing a New Compton” and there are some great businesses coming to the area. Inglewood has a great shopping center as well.
The problem is that a lot of businesses never recovered. It took years for these renovations to take effect and thriving communities lost plenty of income as a result. Since there's no such thing as riot insurance, buildings were never replaced (unless you called it a civil uprising). Citing safety concerns, businesses never invested and as a result, sectors of inner-city neighborhoods have barely improved.
However the biggest factor is how the Black community has spread out. Before 1992, most Black people were centered in Compton, Watts, Inglewood, Exposition Park, and Los Angeles Proper not too far east and west of the 10 Freeway. After the riots and its aftermath, most families had enough and if they could, they moved out to places like the San Fernando Valley, Pasadena, Covina, Riverside and Lancaster. My godmother lived near Exposition Park and after 1992, she moved out to Palmdale.
The Black community of L.A. became spread out and coupled with the rise of more Latino residents coming through, it has dramatically affected the demographics of hoods. It’s also true in sports as we see more Black kids on teams in these areas and the suburbs have developed great talent. 20 years ago, most of them would have been playing for inner-city schools like Crenshaw, Dorsey, Manual Arts, etc…
The police situation in L.A. have been mixed since then. We added two Black police chiefs (Willie Williams and the still popular Bernard Parks) The Rampart scandal shook the department in a major way but for the part, tensions have cooled and are pretty much like any relationship between police and the inner-city (terse but not tense).
It’s a seminal moment in the city’s history. Many could argue that the O.J. Simpson verdict was payback for the officers acquitted. Rodney King went from victim to an embarrassing mess-up to a rehabilitated man with no ill will on Celebrity Rehab. If anything, the riots were the last final act of a desperate sector of a city/era and its consequences are still evident today. It's an important lesson to never forget on this day
(I recommend Wikipedia’s article on the 1992 riots, especially how it played out in popular culture. Lots of other songs, TV shows, films drew inspiration from this)
