Why L.A. Happened: Implications of the '92 Los Angeles Rebellion.Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. is on fire. That was a nationwide cry a year ago, and predictably a slew of books are being published to commemorate, discuss and analyze this historic civil unrest. What distinguishes Why L.A. Happened: Implications of the '92 Los Angeles Rebellion The Los Angeles Rebellion Rugby Football Club is the first rugby club in Southern California that deliberately welcomes players, coaches and supporters of all ages, races, genders and sexual orientations. , edited by noted poet and activist Haki R. Madhubuti Haki R. Madhubuti (born Don Luther Lee on February 23 1942 in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States) is a renowned African-American author, educator, and poet. He received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Iowa, and served in the U.S. Army from 1960 to 1963. , is its impressive list of commentators. It is a clear clarion from Madhubuti, the publisher of the 25-year-old Third World Press. The more than 25 essays and poems from such authors as poet Gwendolyn Brooks Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks (June 7, 1917 – December 3, 2000) was an African American poet. Biography Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks was born in Topeka, Kansas to Keziah Wims Brooks and David Anderson Brooks. , writer Terry McMillan, social critic Bell Hooks and political commentator Kalamu Ya Salaam Kalamu ya Salaam, born 24 March 1947, is a poet, author, and teacher from the 9th Ward of New Orleans. A well known activist and social critic, Salaam has spoken out on a number of racial and human rights issues. For years he did radio shows on WWOZ. are endowed with probity PROBITY. Justice, honesty. A man of probity is one who loves justice and honesty, and who dislikes the contrary. Wolff, Dr. de la Nat. Sec. 772. and insight. Mainly short, punchy punch·y adj. punch·i·er, punch·i·est 1. Characterized by vigor or drive: "He speaks in short, punchy sentences, using plain, populist words that excite" pieces, the essays are written from several topical perspectives, though the ideological current is inarguably Afrocentric. Given this mode of analysis, racism and white supremacy take a deserved whipping. "Racism is a growth industry, especially in an economic depression," Madhubuti writes in his epilogue. And each of the writers contends that racism is the principal culprit in the L.A. rebellion and seemingly every other racial disturbance in America's turbulent past. This is evident from Tony Martin's survey of oppression from slavery to Rodney King, to Bebe Moore Campbell's charge that it will never disappear. The book has weaknesses. One, it lacks any penetrating class analysis. Two, there are no on-the-ground commentaries or reports from community activists close to the fires. Such an assessment would have provided the book with an additional spark. If none of the writers were eyewitnesses to the multicultural insurrection, they know only intuitively what it means and how it might happen again. "This will not be our final word," Madhubuti promises. But even if it were, it would remain a carefully considered, well-chosen word that resonates with conviction and vision. --Herb Boyd Why LA. Happened: Implications of the '92 Los Angeles Rebellion edited by Haki R. Madhubuti; Third World Press. P.O. Box 19730, Chicago, III., 60619, 1993, 287pp, $14.95 |
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