What’s your story? Where were you on April 29, 1992, the day the Los Angeles riots erupted? Did the events 20 years ago change your life, change your community? What do you want history to remember about what our ethnic community refers to as Saigu (literally 4-2-9)?
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the riots, a group of multiethnic leaders in Los Angeles is partnering with a local radio station and the nation’s largest oral history project to provide a platform for documenting firsthand accounts of those affected by Saigu. The 4.29 Saigu Committee, KCRW-Santa Monica and StoryCorps are inviting individuals to register for interviews and share their experiences to assure the diverse voices of Los Angeles are heard and recorded for posterity. Interviews will take place Dec. 12-18 between 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. They will take an average of 40 minutes. All languages are welcome. The deadline to register is Nov. 16. KCRW (89.9 FM) will broadcast select stories, and the nonprofit StoryCorps, dedicated to documenting the oral histories of everyday Americans, will lend its expertise.
Spaces are limited. To schedule a reservation to record a 40-minute StoryCorps interview, please call (213) 985-1500 x207, email info@kccd3300.org, or visit saigu429.com.
The 4.29 Saigu Committee was launched recently by the Korean Churches for Community Development (KCCD) and L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, along with more than 50 multi-ethnic civic and community leaders from across the state. The committee has planned a number of community projects in advance of the 20th anniversary next April.
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As an African-American who was born and raised in Los Angeles and fled a few years after the riots I would love to come to Los Angeles and have dinner with a Korean-American family and I will be willing to try som Kimchi. I was at the intersection of Florence and Normandie during the start of the riots. See my story at http://www.losangelesriots.info. I was just in L A shooting a piece for CBS News and I had the opportunity to attend the media screening of “Clash Of Colors” in Koreatown. I met many wonderful Koreans and Korean-Americans. It was great. I was hoping to read more comments here from many people but it’s ok. Hey I’m also on facebook so let’s be friends!! http://www.facebook.com/#!/timothy.goldman1
I was a reporter for the Los Angeles Wave Newspaper when the riots broke out on April 29, 1992. I was at Florence and Normandie when the unrest broke out there about 3:30pm. I later reported the first account of the conflicts leading up to events at that intersection the first day. I was born and raised in South Central Los Angeles and lived nearby in Inglewood with my two young sons. I was concerned about the court verdicts, particularly the implications for my African American boys, but had to balance my emotions to remain as objective as possible. It was difficult but in the process I was able to learn more about how an array people felt about the events before and after those days. I also discovered many of the underlying reasons behind the apparent strained relationships across ethnic lines prior to April 29. I remain a different person today because of the understanding I personally gained about living and prospering together in a city as diverse as Los Angeles.
I was 17 then. High top fades (for the brothas); the comedy “In Living Color” was popular; Bel Biv Devo and Boyz II Men were the “in” groups; the Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo was the dream car for every Asian American teenage boy; Hyundais were “cars that made sense” because people scoffed at them for being “cheap cars that only ghetto people drove, like Rodney King;” Cross Colors were popular (my parents ran a swap meet store that sold urban fashion, and hence my inside scoop of what was cool among black youths); I got my acceptance letter to Cal Berkeley in the hopes of becoming a doctor; Rodney King was pulled from his Hyundai and beat by the LAPD; the cops were later acquitted; Latasha Harlins was killed by the Korean shopkeeper; and the relationship between blacks and Koreans across the nation was exacerbating.
I remember at church, the Sunday after the ’92 Riots, very vividly like it was yesterday. The mok-san-nim’s eyes were watery, apparent he was about to cry. He started off the sermon, “hey man, what it is?! (mocking the ebonic tone with his thick FOBish accent)…I’ll tell you what it is!!! You tell me ‘what’s going on man!’ while you burn down my people’s dreams, businesses…you f*(king n!ggers!! you black motherf*9kers…always blaming other people for your own problems…” and then he collapsed to the ground, weeping. Others in the audience were weeping too, and I felt very uncomfortable after that. I was appalled at this moment.
Then, after that, it was our usual thing. We’d head to the local 7-11 to play some Streetfighter II. My friends were with me, about 5 of us total. One of my friend’s parents had their liquor store burnt to a crisp. I remember he kept on saying the n-word, how much he hated blacks, etc. while in the car. Then, as we approach the 7-11 in mom & dad’s Camry, we see two black guys, about our age. My friend walked up to the black guys and said “what’s up?!” The black guys responded “what’s up?!” in a confrontational tone. My stupid friend got his teeth knocked out; those black guys f*9ked him and all of us up. I ended up with a black eye, and my other friends got roughed up pretty bad.
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