Like many others, the Trayvon Martin case has me longing for
a time when Hip-Hop really was the “CNN of Black America.” In fact, the case often has me thinking back
a couple of decades, when another incident of racial violence divided the
country. The incident in question was
caught on tape, and though the perpetrators were brought to justice, they were ultimately
acquitted of all charges. Los Angeles was
nearly razed to the ground in the trails immediate aftermath. The entire nation froze, wondering if and
when the violence would cease. Anyone
who’d been listening to rap music for the few years prior to events understood
just what was happening and why.
Uprising: Hip Hop
& The LA Riots puts the events that began on April 29th,
1992 under a microscope. When the four
LAPD officers caught on tape beating motorist Rodney King were acquitted by a
jury of their peers, the City of Angels exploded. The civil unrest lasted for six days, during
which time much property was destroyed and many lives were lost. The uprising was the logical conclusion to
racial tensions that had been simmering decades. Those tensions were exacerbated by a police
force that Black and Brown Los Angelenos had to come see as a brutal
gestapo. Those sentiments and more were
expressed in the West Coast Gangsta rap that anticipated the uprising.
Right off the bat, the trailer for Uprising: Hip Hop & The LA Riots puts viewers at ease by
featuring a qualified roster of talking heads.
John Singleton, Nas, KRS-1, Ice-T all look back in hindsight and offer
their take. All of this is transposed with
home video footage offering a ground zero perspective and featuring ordinary
citizens shouting all manner of threats and declarations into the camera as
violence swirls around them. It’s both inspiring
and chilling. The most compelling
moments feature one of the men responsible for beating Reginald Denny to a
bloody pulp. His honest and unapologetic
testimonial inspires mixed feelings. I understand
where he’s coming from, but I detest the way in which he chose to act on his instincts.
From the looks of things, Uprising: Hip Hop & The LA Riots is a work that demands to be
seen. I will definitely be watching as
the memory of VH1’s last Hip-Hop related Rock Doc, Planet Rock, The Story of Hip Hop and the Crack Generation, is
still fresh in my mind. Uprising looks
to pack a similar punch. As harrowing as
the images in the trailer are, I’m game.
While we collectively fume over the developments of the Trayvon Martin
case, it’s important that both we and the powers that be reflect on just how
bad these things can get. Some of us are
willing to do much more than talk. Some
of us are tired of asking and waiting.
Some of us want change. Uprising: Hip Hop & The LA Riots
airs on May 1st at 9pm ET/PT.
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