Monday, April 30, 2012

LA RIOTS: 20th Anniversary

LA 92'
Yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of the Los Angeles riots. April 29th, 1992. Time flies. I remember sitting there as a little kid wondering why the news was on all day and my afternoon cartoons were missing. I also wondered why my grandmother came to live with us that week and why I kept seeing fires on TV but no fire fighters doing anything about it. This was a pretty dramatic event that took place before our eyes on live television. I may have only been 6 years old but some of the vivid imagery  has stayed with me two decades later.

I wasn't going to post anything about this but the other day I talked with a 21 year old co-worker of mine and she didn't have the faintest clue what the LA Riots where. Granted, she was a baby when they took place but that little revelation left me floored. Here's a brief clip to catch all you younglings/foriegn folks up to speed:


It's so crazy seeing old footage like that, or THIS insane gun fight between Korean store owners and looters. To think this all happened in a "modern" city like Los Angeles. I've made no real reference to the racial tensions or post 1960's socio-political inequalities that had built up for decades and ultimately led to the chaos of the 92' riots. Shit was bad in the city long before this event, but on April 29, 1992...shit got worse.

Here's Slayer and Ice-T's take on the whole event: DISORDER
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12 comments:

  1. mamtcApril 30, 2012 at 1:28 PM

    I saw this on NEWS right after Zimmerman's news about 200k$ donated to his paypal account.
    I didnt know how to react, I just smiled. And remembered how people criticised Bill Gates and his donation to third world countries and asked him how he can do that when America is in recession.
    America - Land of racists and home of the hypocrites :)

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  2. OutcastApril 30, 2012 at 2:52 PM

    Just like your co-worker I had never heard of the LA Riots before, these sound horrible buddy, it's great that Los Angeles is much more peaceful these days, in my opinion it's one of the greatest cities in this world and it doesn't deserve that.

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  3. BaurApril 30, 2012 at 3:02 PM

    Hm I'm with yeaminewafles

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  4. RApril 30, 2012 at 3:52 PM

    I didn't know what the LA Riots were too...

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  5. Electric AddictApril 30, 2012 at 3:57 PM

    I'm a youngin thanks for enlightening me on such a crazy event.

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  6. MarkApril 30, 2012 at 4:14 PM

    I knew OF the LA riots but I didn't know so much about why they happened. God damn that was just an awful and stupid situation, but in a way the response was as well.

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  7. JayApril 30, 2012 at 4:34 PM

    man, time flies...

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  8. Pat HattApril 30, 2012 at 6:21 PM

    I heard of them but had no idea what happened or why, it is sad that humanity does that this day in age. Besides they made you miss your cartoons..haha

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  9. D4April 30, 2012 at 8:52 PM

    Yeah, I needed to see those to fall back in place. I was a young one, and I'd been made aware, but it didn't affect me at the time. Now it does.

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  10. UnknownApril 30, 2012 at 8:58 PM

    I was home in Ireland at the time, but I remember this quite well. (I'm older than everyone else here). And I remember the Chili Peppers album that was influenced by these events.

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  11. DWeiMay 1, 2012 at 12:00 AM

    Never even heard of these. I was like 1 when it happened.

    Also I lived in Canada so they probably also plays a role.

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  12. ZombieMay 1, 2012 at 6:22 AM

    Damn! I was only 2 then. O.o

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