UNDERSTANDING THE RIOTS / PART 3 : WITNESS TO RAGE : Streets and Hearts in Turmoil

These are voices of Los Angeles. These women, men, and children talk about what they saw and what they did and how they felt when the verdict in the Rodney King beating trial came in at 3.30 p.m. Wednesday, April 29. And what they saw and did and felt in the tumultuous days afterward.

There are dozens of them. They are poor, rich, well- and ill-educated, successful in their lives and frustrated. Among them are a Jesuit priest in the city’s poorest parish, Latino schoolchildren, a black grandmother, a looter, a Korean businessman, a Mexican immigrant truckdriver shot at by Compton police, a white history professor, an Asian-American downtown lawyer, Magic Johnson, a Guatemalan immigrant, an eminent rabbi, a resentful white mechanic and the president of the Los Angeles Police Commission.

Their words, English, Spanish or Korean, were recorded by nine Times reporters. More than a dozen Times photographers took their pictures.

Some of those speaking on these pages say very rough things about fellow human beings. More of them talk with compassion and love. You will hear bewilderment, fear, resentment, anger, rage, resignation, determination, courage, hope.

These witnesses do not say all that can be said. They perhaps do not say all that has to be said.

Yet, speaking authentically for themselves, they may also be taken in some measure to speak for all of us.

About This Section

The rioting that followed the Rodney King verdicts has set off an intense debate about the problems of urban America. To explain the causes and effects of the dramatic upheaval, the Los Angeles Times is publishing this five-section series.

The Staff for Witness to Rage CONTRIBUTING WRITERS AND THEIR SUBJECTS:

Anthony Day (Introduction), Sam Fulwood III (Myra Bauman, Harry Reed, Carlton Moss, Susan Anderson, Holly Echols), David Haldane (Phillip Spier), Ron Harris (Darryl, Aloic Reneau, Kenny, Bearclaw, Alberto Machon, Jamal Riddick), Kathleen Hendrix (Navraj Singh, Lisa Porche-Burke, Sister Janet Harris, Father Gregory Boyle, S.J., Warren Wilson), Robert Jones (Tom Brennen, Francis D. Howard), Don Lee (Alexander T. Kahng, Soon Chang Kwon, Angela Oh, John Hong), Claudia Puig (Arnulfo Barrajas, Hector Reyes, Isaac Galvan, Father David Herrera, John Silva, Jose Soto), Robert Scheer (Aileen Adams, Warren Christopher, Stanley Sheinbaum, Big Ed, Rabbi Harold Schulweis, Jon Wiener, Bruce Iwasaki, Johnnie Tillman-Blackston), Michael Quintanilla (Marcos Antonio Ramos, Octavio Sandoval, Adan Mesinas, the Guerrero family, Christina Diaz, Zurama Santis) ART DIRECTOR: Tom Trapnell DESIGNER: Chuck Nigash MAKEUP EDITOR: Jon D. Markman PHOTO EDITORS: Con Keyes, Michael Edwards, Iris Schneider PHOTO TECHNICIANS: Veronica Andrasovsky, Harold Crawford, Tonya Evatt, Guy Goodenow, Kathy Kottwitz, Mel Melcon, Matt Randall, Mike Sergeieff, Mike Zacchino COPY EDITOR: Virginia Tyson ARTIST: Sandy Kay PASTE-UP: George Christopher, Bill Lyman, Paul Strobell EDITORS: Tim Rutten, Robert Scheer, Narda Zacchino