Photos: L.A. riots remembered 30 years later with nod to progress, pledge for unity
Shinese Harlins-Kilgore, left, back to camera, cousin of Latasha Harlins, hugs Hyepin Im, president and founder of Faith and Community Empowerment, during a news conference Friday at Florence and Normandie avenues in South Los Angeles to mark the 30th anniversary of the L.A. riots. Also attending are Lora Dene King, daughter of Rodney King, center background; Robert Saucedo, president and chief executive of Community Build, far right; and former Congresswoman Diane Watson, second from right.
Across South L.A. and Koreatown on Friday, Angelenos commemorated the 30th anniversary of the L.A. riots, recognizing the progress they’ve made and pledging more dialogue to bring people closer together.
At Florence and Normandie avenues, in addition to an event organized by the financial empowerment group Operation Hope, talk show host Tavis Smiley and Dominique DiPrima of KBLA-AM also hosted a live broadcast.
In Watts, Black residents celebrated a 1992 gang cease-fire that was inspired by the racial injustice leading up to the riots.
In Inglewood, Korean and Black leaders unveiled a mural depicting people from their communities with a sign saying, “Roots Hold Stronger Entwined.”
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In Koreatown, hundreds attended a peace gathering where Korean American and Black artists sang and rapped.
Lora Dene King, left, daughter of Rodney King, hugs John Hope Bryant, chairman and chief executive of Operation Hope at a news conference in South L.A. on Friday.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Sweet Alice Harris, left, joins others on a bus tour Friday of neighborhoods affected by the L.A. riots 30 years ago.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Pastor Tyrice Cagle, right, of Redemption Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles, finds an elevated vantage point to listen to speakers at the news conference in South L.A. on Friday.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Bokjim Kim, left, and Starla Tartton dance while holding flags at an event Friday where Asian and Black civil rights leaders united in Liberty Park in Koreatown to mark the 1992 L.A. riots.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Lora Dene King, daughter of Rodney King, holds her son Raymond, 2, after a news conference Friday at the intersection of Florence and Normandie avenues in Los Angeles.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
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Members of Hwarang Youth Foundation perform in Liberty Park in Koreatown on Friday to mark the 30th anniversary of the L.A. riots.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
A sign is posted at the intersection of Florence and Normandie avenues to commemorate the 1992 riots.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
Dennetta King, the former wife of the late Rodney King, wears a shirt with an image in his likeness outside of First African Methodist Episcopal Church’s Renaissance Center in Los Angeles, where she and others took a bus tour of neighborhoods affected by the L.A. riots.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Rep. Karen Bass, mayoral candidate for Los Angeles, greets a man Friday at the intersection of Florence and Normandie avenues, ground zero of the 1992 unrest.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, second from right, joins hands with community leaders Friday at a news conference to commemorate the 1992 L.A. riots. Also attending are, from left, Capri Maddox, executive director of Los Angeles civil rights department; Shinese Harlins-Kilgore, chief executive of the Latasha Harlins Foundation; Hyepin Im, president and founder of Faith and Community Empowerment; Najee Ali (partially blocked), community relations ambassador for Operation Hope; Garcetti; and Lora Dene King, daughter of Rodney King.
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