Looks Like Another Perfect Day by wysiwig
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Description
“Looks like another perfect day, I love L.A.” ~ Randy Newman
Nothing special. Just an ordinary intersection not far from where I lived as a boy.
But here on April 29, 1992 Reginald Denny was pulled from the cab of his truck and nearly beaten to death.
The looting, violence and burning would last for six days and leave fifty-five dead, and the words ‘Florence and Normandie’ would become infamous. The initial reason for what came to be called the L.A. Riots was a reaction to acquittal of police on trial in the beating of motorist Rodney King but anger in the black neighborhoods of South Central Los Angeles had been simmering for years and finally exploded on that April evening.
Days earlier my friend Larry had left for a European trip after asking me to house sit for him and take care of his cat. The way he put was, “I thought you would like to stay someplace nice for a while.” He always had such a way with flattery.
His apartment located on Hayworth Avenue near Pico Boulevard really was very nice. And there was an Indian restaurant on the corner. Besides, the rioting was miles away so I was looking forward to a pleasant stay. By May 1, however, reality had come to my quiet neighborhood. Coming home from work I saw a large crowd ripping the security gate off the electronics store next to the restaurant. The looting lasted for about an hour. I could see cars driving by with big screen TVs and stereo equipment in their trunks. Finally a single police cruiser showed up and everyone scattered. The police put a TV set that had been lying in the street in their trunk and left.
As darkness began to fall some of the looters came back and set fire to the electronics store. The fire quickly spread to the frame store next door and the Indian restaurant. The fire department had been overwhelmed by events and so the fire burned unchecked. And as the flames rose higher they began to threaten a four unit apartment building that sat across a narrow alley from the burning buildings.
In the middle of all this something wonderful happened. Neighbors came from all over with ladders, buckets and garden hoses. They were black, white and Asian and together they saved the homes of four of their neighbors. Eventually the fire department showed up and knocked down the fire and a news crew stood in front of the ruins giving the play by play. The rioting finally ended on May 4 when Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley called in the National Guard.
In one night I saw the best and the worst of humanity.
Twenty-five years later the debate continues as to whether anything has improved in all that time.
Comments (17)
giulband
Very good picture !!
durleybeachbum
There is an amazing contrast between what we see and what you tell. The neighbours must have been very special.
Sadly a huge amount of trouble is caused by angry, often white, men both in your country and mine.
T.Rex
Thanks for the account. SO much PC clap-trap about that period in LA history so I stopped keeping up with the news. What I can't understand is why so many misbehaved. First looting, then burning. Like one black man said during the Watts riots - "This is the most damn fool thing, burning up your neighborhood. No homes, no jobs. What are they gonna live on?" Nice photo of a typical LA neighborhood. So much empty space between buildings. Parking, I presume. LA is automobile town. :-)
kgb224
Superb capture my friend. God bless.
bobrgallegos
Great capture and narrative my friend!! Just watched the special on TV and this photo puts a face to this infamous intersection!! Thanks!!
bmac62
Well illustrated. Well described. Challenges all the emotions. Black lives do matter. This is not "PC crap". I can't speak for modern day L.A. but I continue to be concerned about angry people everywhere. Life is so much better when we work to come together. Thanks for the refresher.
anahata.c
While I stopped commenting for a week or two (I'll do a few dedis in that time, but will return to comments only after), I had to comment on this because it's rare that you post these days; and, whenever you write from your life, it's always special.
First, the shot feels like a normal day in LA. The color is bleached daylight, w/ lots of whites and grays, and the usual rat-a-tat of low stores, small strip malls, houses, cars and pavement...with phone lines and signs, etc. It's a long shot (ie, wide) and captures the feel of these streets for those of us who aren't there. Hard to imagine what cataclysms it had, or will have another day in the future.
Your story makes immediate what we all read about at the time. I knew there were neighborhoods where the residents took over and put out the fires, etc; but I'd not heard one personal story about it. The Rodney King incident ricochet'd all over the country, mind you, along with the reminder of the subjugation of blacks in our cities. But I hadn't heard a story like this first hand.
Your story brings it home, having been suddenly in the center of it, and witnessing it get so dangerous and desperate within minutes or an hour. You spoke of a police car taking a tv set, and we don't know if they stole it or took it for evidence---which shows the caprice of those terrible riots. (It happened in Chicago too, in earlier years; "so much went down," said a friend who grew up in one of Chicago's biggest black ghettos, "we didn't know what was going down..."
And the fire, and how quickly it moves...I've been next to a few fires in my life (urban) that came dangerously close to where I was, and I know it's terrifying. At first it's a terrible sight, but you watch it as if from a distance. But then it gets closer---very quickly---and huge; and you suddenly realize you could be engulfed. In your usual way, you convey all these things without over-dramatizing them, allowing them to speak for themselves. And then, like "angels on wings," the neighborhood poured out and saved the area, with several nationalities, incl black and white, showing the bond beneath all this terrible hell. And you let that, too, speak for itself. It's a very striking and moving story, Mark, the best and worst of humanity as you say. And today, what's changed? Maybe nothing. Except that mobile media (smartphones, etc) has brought racial attacks into our homes and pockets in ways that was never possible before; and suddenly some people are saying "it's getting so much worse," when all that's happened is that we're finally seeing it a lot more, when in fact it was going on a long, long time before.
Your photo of a 'day in the life' brings home how any neighborhood, any place, can suddenly erupt and become a place of life and death; and, eventually, go back to a 'normal' existence. That's how fast waves can come and go. But the fact that all those people ran out and saved their own neighborhood, cross cultural lines, cross race and gender, is remarkable. One of the many moments that transcend everything and shine with humanity. Terrific upload, Mark, and memory of those riots (which took place in April, right? And May?) I'm always grateful for uploads like this, from you. I appreciate them greatly.
Faemike55
Impressive photo and narrative! Your story/perspective is one of many. but yours is different in that you told it in your own words; what you saw and what you felt - you were there. Thank you
Jollyself
Alot of history there....great shot
Glendaw
Very nice picture of a sunny day at a ordinary intersection !
Then along comes your intimate and soul searching story about the L.A. Riots.--- So sad society has fallen so low and slowly getting worse as each day passes by.
Nobody listening to the words-- live and let live, or its ok to agree to disagree ! !
Thanks for sharing !
jayfar
Wonderful light and typically urban Mark.
ArtistKimberly
Fantastic Work,
blondeblurr
OMG - I really loathe violence, whether in world-wars, local streets or within families - it's nothing to boast about... but then again there are toys for boys, who can create such mayhem, so what's new ? and who needs this aggression and reminders... I have an unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind !
I say: " Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable" - thanks goes to Mr. GB Shaw !
bodo_56
Don't know how to say it better, so i second blondeblurr's comment ...
Cyve
Fantastic capture Mark !!!
Richardphotos
I recall the chief of police stating that "what you seen in the Rodney King beating video was not what happened"
nikolais
the sign on the right tops all this afternnon quietude. love the image. Unbelieable it may turn into turmoil