Youth Rally Celebrates L. A.’s Calm : Pacoima: NAACP-sponsored event gets sparse turnout, which an official chalks up to relief at King verdicts. Speakers appeal for unity and social justice.

The Rev. Zedar E. Broadus was not disappointed with the sparse turnout at a youth rally for peace Sunday afternoon in Pacoima.

It seemed that Los Angeles had caught on to the idea without his help.

Only about 30 people attended a rally organized by the Youth Council of the San Fernando Valley branch of the NAACP in a field next to a crime-ridden apartment complex. About half of them belonged to groups sponsoring the event.

The gathering was planned to follow the announcement of the verdicts in the Rodney G. King civil rights case. Organizers wanted to give young people a chance to vent their frustrations and discuss the verdicts peacefully, especially if the four police officers were acquitted.

But in the wake of two convictions, there were not only no riots, but police reported less violent crime than usual.

“We decided to hold the rally to help explain the verdicts and prevent violence,” said Broadus, president of the San Fernando Valley chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People. “I guess everyone is so relieved at the outcome that they decided to stay home.”

As it turned out, most of the young people who heard Broadus and seven other speakers were small children more interested in running, jumping and climbing at a playground adjacent to the park.

Those who did listen heard a series of short but emotional appeals for unity and social justice. Speakers included Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar), a mayoral candidate, and ministers, community activists and police.

“In the past year, we’ve made a lot of progress. We need to keep that going,” said Bobbie Marshall, a Valley organizer for Neighbor to Neighbor, a group established by Mayor Tom Bradley to ease racial tensions.

“There are a lot of problems we can solve if we can learn to work together,” Marshall said.

Capt. Tim McBride, commander of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Foothill Division, also called for unity now that trial is over.

“It’s time for us to pull together and move on,” he said. “This case has polarized so many people for so long that now it’s time for us to put all that behind us.”

Katz said the reason for the city’s calm “wasn’t because of the police or the National Guard mobilization. It happened because of the responsibility of people here.”

Some were less optimistic. Leonard Broome of Pacoima said that while “some justice was done” by the verdicts, the underlying frustrations that brought about last year’s violence remain unaddressed.

Still, for one afternoon, peace broke out.