The greater Los Angeles community both mourned and celebrated the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Cecil L. “Chip” Murray, who passed away in Los Angeles on April 5. He was 94 years old.
The video that captured the beating of Rodney King was profound in so many ways. For the very first time, the nation witnessed police brutality in a raw form as filmed, not by a member of the media, but rather from an average citizen. And marginalized communities of color now had evidence of what we had been saying for years – law enforcement used unlawful tactics and tended to target Black males and used excessive force without cause or care of discipline. The proof was there. The video was broadcast for all to see. Then came the trial and the acquittal of the officers. The date was April 29, 1992.
On the northeast corner of Vermont and Manchester Avenues, a little over four acres of land have remained blighted and mostly vacant since the 1992 Civil Unrest, when the shopping center that once stood there was set ablaze. For the past three decades, as the world around it has continued to turn, this small commercial strip in South Los Angeles has remained frozen in time—an unfortunate and sobering reminder of the anger and desperation that led to neighbors looting and setting fire to businesses, many of which were owned by those of a different color. It has come to symbolize
The County plans to build affordable housing and retail, as well a Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) transit plaza, preparatory boarding academy and training center on the site. Renderings for the project were released in February.
Jun. 7 Twenty-five years ago, the world witnessed the brutality and subsequent violence that resulted from the 1992 Los Angeles Uprising. Join us at CAAM for a panel led by USC Professor of Communication, Josh Kuhn, with Kirk McCoy, LA Times photographer; Jim Newton, a professor and former LA Times reporter; and photographer Ted Soqui, who will discuss what it was like to cover the uprisings in LA at the height of the rebellion.
Hundreds of people joined Board of Supervisors Chairman Mark Ridley-Thomas in marking the 25th anniversary of the 1992 Civil Unrest in Los Angeles with a teach-in and a candlelight vigil.