Advertisement

The Times podcast: The L.A. riots, 30 years later

A chaotic street scene, with smoke pouring from a large fire and debris strewn about
Violent unrest at the corner of Florence and Normandie avenues on April 29, 1992, the first day of the L.A. riots.
(Kirk McCoy / Los Angeles Times)
Share via

April 29, 1992. A date that forever changed Los Angeles. Six days of chaos erupted after the acquittal of four police officers in the videotaped beating of Rodney King, an unarmed Black motorist. This is the first of two episodes on the 30th anniversary of the L.A. riots.

Today, Black, Latino and Asian communities reflect on the uprising. We also discuss the racial reckoning of the L.A. Times newsroom in its aftermath. Read the transcript.

Advertisement

Host: Gustavo Arellano

Guests: L.A. Times columnists Sandy Banks and Frank Shyong

More reading:

Column: What we got wrong about Black and Korean communities after the L.A. riots

Column: He was murdered during the L.A. riots. We can’t forget Latinos like him

Advertisement

The damage went deep

About The Times

“The Times” is made by columnist Gustavo Arellano, senior producers Denise Guerra, Shannon Lin and Kasia Broussalian and producers David Toledo, Ashlea Brown and Angel Carreras. Our engineer is Mario Diaz. Our editor is Kinsee Morlan. Our executive producers are Jazmín Aguilera and Shani O. Hilton. Our theme song was composed by Andrew Eapen.
Advertisement