Celebrities’ Pleas for Peace

There were abundant calls for peace throughout the city in recent weeks, many of them from celebrities. Among those were:

Edward James Olmos: The actor, who took to the streets to help clean up the city with brooms and shovels after the 1992 violence, was interviewed on local news programs urging calm and appeared in a videotaped message during a “town meeting” broadcast on KABC.

Robert Townsend: The director made public service announcements calling for peace.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Arsenio Hall: The actor and talk show host appeared in a music video entitled “Chill.”

Vikki Carr: The singer taped public service announcements in Spanish urging community members to live together in peace.

Sports figures: Dodgers Tom Lasorda and Eric Davis, and Clippers Danny Manning and Ron Harper were among those calling for a calm reaction to the verdicts.

Religious figures: Appeals for calm figured prominently in Easter services throughout the Southland on the Sunday preceding the verdicts, including the famed Easter Sunrise Service at the Hollywood Bowl and at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in South-Central.

Michael Jackson: The radio talk show host put forth the view that most people in the community were rational and responsible and the community would not erupt again.

James Earl Jones: Along with Edward James Olmos, he taped voice-overs for upcoming Rebuild L.A. public service ads urging people to rebuild the community.

Others: Throughout the city, the call to “chill,” stay cool and keep calm was heard from community activists, elected officials and others.