Life & Times; No. 198; Special Edition: Exit King Blvd.; Part 1

<v ?Martin Luther King Jr.?>[helicopter whirring] Yet the truth is that no one can scone nonviolent direct <v ?Martin Luther King Jr.?>action or civil disobedience <v ?Martin Luther King Jr.?>without ?cancelling? [audio cuts out] American history. <v ?Martin Luther King Jr.?>The first nonviolent direct action did not occur in Montgomery [audio cuts]. <v ?Martin Luther King Jr.?>Its roots go back to the American Revolution [echoes]. <v Ruben Martinez>April 29, 1992 and the days that followed left a deep <v Ruben Martinez>and painful wound in our city's soul. <v Ruben Martinez>I'm Ruben Martinez. We're all still trying to recover from the riots, the <v Ruben Martinez>rebellion, the civil unrest, the upheaval. <v Ruben Martinez>Call it what you will. We're at war with each other and each and every one of <v Ruben Martinez>us played a role or experienced the pain, the shock and the disappointment <v Ruben Martinez>of a city brought to its knees. <v Ruben Martinez>Rapidly, we replaced the anger and the chaos with signs of recovery <v Ruben Martinez>and healing. Are we just retreating into normal behavior in order to get on

<v Ruben Martinez>with the day to day business of running a city? <v Ruben Martinez>Or can we look to the ashes as a unique opportunity to build a healthy, just <v Ruben Martinez>and economically viable community? <v Ruben Martinez>Over the next year our producers and crews will track the process and progress of one <v Ruben Martinez>large neighborhood that centers around the corner of Martin Luther King Boulevard and <v Ruben Martinez>Western Avenue. Predominantly African-American and Latino, it's a microcosm <v Ruben Martinez>of inner city L.A.. But first, a beginning. <v Ruben Martinez>If you traveled the Harbor Freeway during early May and got off on King Boulevard <v Ruben Martinez>and walked and talked and listened. <v Ruben Martinez>These would be some of the stories from families and individuals, stoners and religious <v Ruben Martinez>leaders, workers and teachers that you might have heard. <v Ruben Martinez>And for some, the memories of those few days in May are as real <v Ruben Martinez>as fire [music plays]. <v Ruben Martinez>

<v Man 1>Try try to look this way in our face, kind <v Man 1>of like this. Not too much smiling because it would look a bit kind of s- [laughs] well. <v Man 1>I'm not I'm not telling you what, but the smiling part may not <v Man 1>be quite becoming you know. <v Ruben Martinez>They were once neighbors in a thriving mini ?mod? <v Ruben Martinez>at the corner of Western and King Boulevard. <v Ruben Martinez>Today, they stand solemnly in front of the rubble that once provided their livelihood. <v Man 1>That's it. Yeah, that's it. <v Man 1>Perfect. <v Ruben Martinez>Now, their misfortune is the subject of a photo essay for National Magazine. <v Ruben Martinez>They say they agreed to participate. So that something good can come from their loss.

<v Man 1>Mrs. Lagon, if you can move to the other side of your husband. <v Man 1>Please. <v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>We're standing now on the site of what used to be the Aquarian Bookshop and Cultural <v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>Center. And for many, many years in Los Angeles, uh the Aquarian <v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>has been kind of a staple. <v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>Really, what we call a cultural icon in the community. <v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>One of our treasure troves. A meeting place for artists, writers, scholars, community <v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>activists, uh researchers, the also, it's been <v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>really a resource in terms of the books and the materials that have been here and <v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>available to the community. Books that you can't get anywhere else. <v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>I had over the last five years, 4 book signings here excuse me, at the Aquariun. <v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>Over the course of time, in addition to the book signings I had, I would say that any <v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>author, name or established or unestablished, <v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>they always knew that the Aquarian was a place that they could introduce their books. <v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>So you had individuals who just had no names- burgeoning, young writers that were

<v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>starting out. The Aquarian's doors were open. <v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>You would find them sitting over here autographing their books and speaking a little bit <v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>about this subject all the way over to people like Margaret Walker, Alice Walker, <v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>uh Alex Haley. They all came through the doors of the aquarium at one time or another. <v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>And by the way, I should point out something else, too. <v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>All the acid we're standing on. You're standing on books. <v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>You're standing on literature. You're standing on a little bit of history right here. <v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>So it's just not wood, charcoal. <v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>These are books or they were books. <v Alfred Lagon>This is the Phoenix fire. <v Alfred Lagon>The Phoenix fire. To have the that that is the legend about the Phoenix <v Alfred Lagon>that burns it lives for 500 years and then burns <v Alfred Lagon>himself and out of his ashes he rises again. <v Alfred Lagon>It's a kind of a resurrection, we would call it. <v Alfred Lagon>Number of people ask me in terms of that, well what's, why aren't you moanin' <v Alfred Lagon>or cryin' or something about loss of your bookshop?

<v Alfred Lagon>Well, I said that I wouldn't be teachin' as a doctor of metaphysics if <v Alfred Lagon>I was going around moanin and thinking this kind. <v Alfred Lagon>But each event that happens in our life, we must try to understand it and <v Alfred Lagon>move on that to other facets. <v Alfred Lagon>That's a new beginning, a new bird. <v Alfred Lagon>And so that's the other phase of that particular idea. <v Alfred Lagon>So that's why I was really, really willing and hoping that that <v Alfred Lagon>uh we will be able to reestablish the Aquarian Bookshop. <v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>Things come and go, but ideas are eternal, and I think that's part of the uh <v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>evolution of of humankind, so to speak. <v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>The progress of people. It's the ideas. <v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>It's the intellect, I think. And you cannot destroy that. <v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>The human spirit always wins out in the end. <v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>And the human spirit to me is manifested in the written word. <v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>The printed word, books, books, their ideas. <v Earl Ofari Hutchinson>And you can't destroy that. <v Man 1>Chris just move with the family a little bit to your left. <v Chris Demuth>We had a business called uh People's Choice Thrift Shop.

<v Chris Demuth>It was a thrift and consignment shop. <v Chris Demuth>It uh was really community involved in the sense that <v Chris Demuth>not only could people donate things to us, but they could bring us things. <v Chris Demuth>And when we sold it, we would split with them the profits that that came so that <v Chris Demuth>gave people an opportunity to make money off the things that <v Chris Demuth>they uh were normally gonna throw out. <v Man 1>No thank you, no it looks great. Thanks. <v Chris Demuth>I think she'll be able to sit ?in a tire? for a while, huh? <v Chris Demuth>This keeps you going. This keeps you going. <v Chris Demuth>Otherwise, you might consider quitting. <v Chris Demuth>When you've got a family just you don't have a choice. <v Chris Demuth>You just gotta keep going. <v Chris Demuth>And everybody was afraid down here. <v Chris Demuth>To speak up. Like there's there there are uh drug houses all around the neighborhood. <v Chris Demuth>People are afraid to say anything.

<v Chris Demuth>If they ever got caught saying anything, the next day, your windows are broken. <v Chris Demuth>Our windows got smashed several times just because of a a color TV didn't <v Chris Demuth>work, right. Just small little issues. <v Chris Demuth>You had to watch every little move you made. <v Chris Demuth>And that's no way to live. <v Chris Demuth>Chief auto parts, that manager got shot in the chest. <v Chris Demuth>He's in the hospital- <v Man 2>This is before the riots? <v Chris Demuth>This is all before the riots. Now we're talking within a 6 month span. <v Chris Demuth>OK. Within 6 months, he was shot. <v Chris Demuth>There was a shooting right behind my store where a undercover was shot uh <v Chris Demuth>through the car by a 17 year old kid, which I knew personally. <v Chris Demuth>Quiet. You'd never think he was into gang. <v Chris Demuth>I know 15, 13 year old kids that carry a piece in their bag, right <v Chris Demuth>behind here. And, you know, it's no big thing. <v Chris Demuth>And I'm not talking a few percentage. <v Chris Demuth>I'm talking a lot of kids that do their homework. <v Chris Demuth>They come home, they go to school.

<v Chris Demuth>They play basketball, but they have a piece in their bag. <v Chris Demuth>Do you have any common sense? <v Chris Demuth>And you have a little business and you're feeding your little family <v Chris Demuth>and you're trying to survive. This is not the place. <v Chris Demuth>South Central is not the place. <v Chris Demuth>?Solís?, too. It's too tough. <v Chris Demuth>And your life ain't worth it. <v Woman 1>None of these would have been burnt in the middle. None of these stores should have been burnt. <v Joe Wilson>When they- the riot was goin' on, I was back in their cookin'. <v Joe Wilson>Cuz I had no idea that they was going to set it to fire. <v Joe Wilson>And then I got on and I found I was on fire cuz it started a video store in a 99 <v Joe Wilson>cent store. And when I decided when they come told me the store was on fire, <v Joe Wilson>I really couldn't believe it. So they had to pull me out of there. <v Joe Wilson>And we did more business Thursday morning than we had done the whole week. <v Joe Wilson>People was lootin' and they would stop and come and have breakfast and would pay. <v Joyce Wilson>It was a lot of looting. The looters would put they stuff down, come into the store,

<v Joyce Wilson>get them a soda, a cake. <v Joyce Wilson>They say, are you alright? We say, yes, we're alright. <v Joyce Wilson>They said we gon' come back to see if you fine. <v Joyce Wilson>We said, thank you. And they did! <v Joyce Wilson>And these little kids, these little kids, the and they talk about the future. <v Joyce Wilson>That was the future that was out here tearing these buildings down. <v Joyce Wilson>You know, and everybody was talking about a Rodney King thing. <v Joyce Wilson>This was no Rodney King thing. <v Joyce Wilson>This was a people thing. They did what they wanted to do. <v Joyce Wilson>You know, like Rodney King ?said? for the first two hours, I could understand them being <v Joyce Wilson>angry. But after the first two hours, you had time to think, <v Joyce Wilson>you know, and there with the, with the TV, everybody sittin' in front of they TV <v Joyce Wilson>lookin', the people tellin' the other people where they go, where there's <v Joyce Wilson>kids that don't go to the Foot Locker, you know. <v Joyce Wilson>But they telling them that he has a Foot Locker over here. <v Joyce Wilson>You know, no policemans around.

<v Joyce Wilson>You could come over here they didn't say it. <v Joyce Wilson>But that's what they met. <v Joyce Wilson>Wanna say that this is not our crew. <v Joyce Wilson>[laughs] You know, I don't know where this crew come from out. <v Joyce Wilson>It's heartbreaking that it had to happen. <v Joyce Wilson>But I don't know. How could you stop it? The gentleman with the white hat <v Joyce Wilson>on said that he was he was out of a job, but now he has a job. <v Joyce Wilson>[laughs] So what am I to say? <v Man 3>I'm not going down to file up unemployment. <v Man 3>You know, Imma work. <v Man 3>Imma work, help clean. Imma work clean- this is this is the second center that I've been <v Man 3>at cleaning up, cleaning up, scratching off, scrapping through yet. <v Man 3>But still I'm cleaning. OK? <v Man 3>And, you know, I just wanna see everything get cleaned up and you ?inaudible?

<v Man 3>work crews and get here and start rebuilding the place, you know? <v Man 3>Hey, I've seen this spot this lot go through many changes. <v Man 3>Better food, better food to ?inaudible?. <v Man 3>I lived in this community for 43 years and to see, see my neighborhood look like <v Man 3>this man. You know, [scoffs] it's really it's heartbreaking. <v Joe Wilson>You know? It it hurts because I put 15, 16 hours a day every day <v Joe Wilson>for three years almost. <v Joe Wilson>And then it got so we I could start takin' like one day off. <v Joe Wilson>But when you put in all this sweat and all his time in the years <v Joe Wilson>you put in here and and all the stuff we had accumulated in here, then it all just go <v Joe Wilson>in 'bout less than 20 minutes to 30 minutes. <v Joe Wilson>You know, it hurts. But see here still, I didn't I didn't worry about it a lot <v Joe Wilson>though, because I figured it is gonna be- although I didn't have any insurance. <v Joe Wilson>But still, it didn't bother me as much.

<v Joe Wilson>You know, I believe in God. You know, I believe in God. <v Joe Wilson>And I know that uh God not gonna let me suffer. <v Joyce Wilson>I'm a Baptist. I go to Paradise Baptist Church on 51st of Broadway. <v Joyce Wilson>Joe is a Muslim. He ?Ishana? <v Joyce Wilson>is a Baptist and a Muslim. <v Joyce Wilson>She can't make up her mind which one she wants to be. <v Joyce Wilson>She goes to a Muslim school [?Ishana?: Muslim school] and <v Joyce Wilson>we try to keep her in a private school because she's not public <v Joyce Wilson>school material. Why I say she's not public school material? <v Joyce Wilson>She's kinda hyper. And- <v ?Ishana?>?Hyprel? Hyper! <v Joyce Wilson>OK. Well hyper. Thank you. <v Joyce Wilson>She's kinda hyper. And we would not put her in the regular school because <v Joyce Wilson>the regular school system, they're not as tough as they used to be. <v Joyce Wilson>What when I when I give you the lunch money every day. <v Joyce Wilson>What do I tell you?

<v ?Ishana?>Don't get no free lunch. <v Joyce Wilson>And don't, don't, don't go in there pretending like that you don't have money <v Joyce Wilson>and then you keep your money. Isn't that what I tell you? <v ?Ishana?>Yes. <v Joyce Wilson>OK. That's the same thing. It is about looting instead of you going out looting. <v Joyce Wilson>You go to work and- <v ?Ishana?>You go to work and buy stuff. You don't just go and- <v Joyce Wilson>This is the first time we really, really asked her <v Joyce Wilson>asked her about, you know, really asked her about the riot. <v Joyce Wilson>You know, and the and the things that she saw, we really didn't ask. <v Joyce Wilson>But the first night she was just, you know, had us going to the doors <v Joyce Wilson>'cause she was worried that the fire was gonna come here or maybe <v Joyce Wilson>they were uh break in and take our stuff, you know, cause she's seein' the people <v Joyce Wilson>going in and out out of the store. <v Joyce Wilson>So she thought, well, maybe that they may come here. <v Joyce Wilson>You know, we reassure her that they wasn't comin' here. <v Joyce Wilson>And after the second day, she saw that they wouldn't come here and she

<v Joyce Wilson>soon settled on in. <v Joyce Wilson>If we go ahead and and try to do <v Joyce Wilson>and accomplish more than what we had, maybe it won't be <v Joyce Wilson>such a bad effect on her. <v Joyce Wilson>But if we continue to try and we end up gettin' something bigger <v Joyce Wilson>and better, she can see, well, we went down, but we came back. <v Joyce Wilson>And th- those are the things that we tryin' to keep in her eyes, that we are <v Joyce Wilson>going to come back and it's gonna be bigger and it's gonna be better. <v Man 1>That's looking good. ?The manager? <v Man 1>All right. Look at me please. [music plays] <v Anthony Howard>When I was a little kid, you was a little kid, everybody was a little kid out there once <v Anthony Howard>upon a time. Now, when you was a little kid, I know for a fact

<v Anthony Howard>that your mommy and daddy told you don't play with fire. <v Anthony Howard>[music plays] My <v Anthony Howard>name is Anthony Howard. And uh I'm a ex-gang member. <v Anthony Howard>I was born and raised in ?Watts?. <v Anthony Howard>The Rodney King beatin' wasn't the reason for the riot. <v Anthony Howard>This is somethin' that was on my mind, we black brothers have been overloaded <v Anthony Howard>too long. Overloaded, overloaded too long. <v Anthony Howard>Police arrest you for no reason. <v Anthony Howard>What's the difference between a brick and a baton? <v Anthony Howard>They'll have you lay down on the ground just to get your ID out your pocket. <v Anthony Howard>I'm a ex gang member. So Imma do what they say because they the law.

<v Anthony Howard>Police? They catch a Crip, take him to a Blood <v Anthony Howard>?inaudible? police and they announce to the Bloods ?and? <v Anthony Howard>they see some Bloods kickin' it? <v Anthony Howard>Hey, ?we? got a Crip right here. <v Anthony Howard>Overloaded too long. Breakin' a baton. But you're in the backseat tellin' the police o- <v Anthony Howard>officer, please let me go. Please don't, don't, don't. <v Anthony Howard>I don't wanna you know I don't wanna get beat up. I don't wanna die. <v Anthony Howard>Don't don't play with fire. <v Anthony Howard>It's thousands of brothers who have been treated like Rodney <v Anthony Howard>King and ?inaudible? overloaded, overloaded, overloaded too long. <v Anthony Howard>Okay, I got a call. I want to become a police officer now. <v Anthony Howard>I'm an ex gang member. I wanna become a police officer now. <v Anthony Howard>OK. Now, I I graduate, get my badge. <v Anthony Howard>You know, Imma go out there and beat some white white people up just <v Anthony Howard>because I wanna do that?

<v Anthony Howard>No, that ain't right. I supposed to walk there to help whites, black, Koreans, whoever <v Anthony Howard>that need help of the law. <v Anthony Howard>No. Those police officers were on trial for all the young brothers <v Anthony Howard>that they beat. Breakin' a baton. <v Anthony Howard>All the young brothers that they beat. <v Anthony Howard>Now, I wanna say this to everybody out there that's <v Anthony Howard>gonna watch this program. <v Anthony Howard>We are sombody, we are somebody <v Anthony Howard>black, white, Korean. <v Anthony Howard>We are somebody. <v Anthony Howard>It's a shame that it took fire <v Anthony Howard>for people to see that we <v Anthony Howard>are somebody. <v Anthony Howard>OK. When my mother passed away, <v Anthony Howard>it seemed like not just half of my heart was gone. <v Anthony Howard>All of my heart was gone.

<v Anthony Howard>OK. It felt like when my brother called me up there in jail <v Anthony Howard>and told me that my mother <v Anthony Howard>got shot. Drive by shooting, OK? Drive by shooting. <v Anthony Howard>OK. My mother was at the wrong place at the wrong time. <v Anthony Howard>That's why I say to everybody out there, all you young brothers <v Anthony Howard>out there. <v Anthony Howard>Y'all can stop that gang bangin' if you want to. <v Anthony Howard>All I'm asking, my young brothers out there is please. <v Anthony Howard>Overloaded too long. <v Anthony Howard>What's the difference between a brick and a baton? Overloaded too long. Brick and a <v Anthony Howard>baton. <v Anthony Howard>Don't play with fire. <v Vittian Pozo>All this, this was the 9th story. <v Vittian Pozo>?inaudible? some clothes and everything and for the main story and that one, it came to

<v Vittian Pozo>fire right here and with the wind, it came right here. <v Vittian Pozo>So um that's why for that one that one came <v Vittian Pozo>to fire to us for ?inaudible?. <v Man 4>Show us which ?inaudible? <v Vittian Pozo>First this. It started to burn this. This burnt first. And this started to burn this part. <v Vittian Pozo>And then up there it just burned. And up there it burned and then this down here burned next. Right here where we're. This was our house. <v Berkin Pozo>[speaking Spanish] This was my house and my workplace.

<v Berkin Pozo>Last August, my husband left. <v Berkin Pozo>He left me for another woman. <v Berkin Pozo>I was left with my two daughters and to make money to pay rent I worked <v Berkin Pozo>out of my house, but now I'm left completely without a job, without <v Berkin Pozo>anything. We even ended up barefoot because I didn't think that this <v Berkin Pozo>place would catch fire. I ran out barefoot to spray water on the outside. <v Berkin Pozo>So it wouldn't catch fire. But when it did, I was caught outside <v Berkin Pozo>and they wouldn't let me back into the house. <v Berkin Pozo>I didn't get a chance to salvage anything. <v Berkin Pozo>Nothing. Nothing. <v Berkin Pozo>I went to the Red Cross with the clothes on my back and they gave me a check. <v Berkin Pozo>A voucher to get clothes at K-Mart for myself and for the girls. <v Berkin Pozo>They're going to pay my <v Berkin Pozo>first month's rent.

<v Man 5>The first month. How will that help? <v Berkin Pozo>Well, we can get settled in somewhere if they can help me out. <v Berkin Pozo>I'll I'll move tomorrow. <v Man 5>So you've stayed, what, three weeks with friends? <v Berkin Pozo>Yeah. Three weeks. But the lady only said I could stay two. <v Berkin Pozo>We've stayed a week too long, but they told me I could move into this <v Berkin Pozo>apartment tomorrow. <v Berkin Pozo>And then what? Then I need to look for work. <v Berkin Pozo>See, I I used to work in my home. <v Berkin Pozo>I used to make pillows. Now I have to work elsewhere. <v Man 5>Like in a garment shop? <v Berkin Pozo>Whatever. A garment shop or as a maid, whatever I can find. <v Berkin Pozo>[speaking Spanish] When the things started, the chaos, the <v Berkin Pozo>disturbance, I saw people running and running all over the place. <v Berkin Pozo>I stepped out over to that pole and I saw the firefighters running.

<v Berkin Pozo>They were being chased by this mob, waving sticks and throwing bottles. <v Berkin Pozo>And I told them to come in. <v Speaker>When we pulled on scene, uh we had a large commercial <v Speaker>uh structure fire fully involved. And uh next door to the fire was an ABC market which <v Speaker>was being uh looted at the time, there a lot of people going in and out. <v Speaker>Uh for that reason uh our captain chose to to attack this fire <v Speaker>because the safety of the people, if this fire had caught on to that market, uh they <v Speaker>would've put those people in danger. We're ready to flow water. <v Speaker>Uh when a a car pulled up behind our rigs, between us and the and the in <v Speaker>the street actually towards our back, and the some uh <v Speaker>gang members got out of the car with with weapons and uh they started ?meanly? <v Speaker>pointing them at us and uh telling us to get out of there. <v Speaker>They wanted just to let the let the burning, let the building burn and for us just to get <v Speaker>out of there. Uh at that point, uh, one of them approached our captain, Kevin Butler, and <v Speaker>uh put the gun to his face and uh we couldn't hear what was going on.

<v Speaker>But obviously he was uh, it was a confrontation. <v Speaker>?inaudible? his hands up, so he was going to give in to whatever they wanted to do. <v Speaker>We saw him hand over the radio to to the guy with the gun. <v Speaker>And at that point uh, he sort of signaled for us, we're getting out of here. <v Speaker>We're gonna let th- let this let the fire burn. <v Speaker>?inaudible? a sense what was happened is they, they wanted us to let it burn and not put <v Speaker>out their fires. So we we end up fleeing on foot. <v Speaker>We went toward the corner of Vermont and Vernon. <v Speaker>And uh as we were crossing the street, crossing over Vermont, <v Speaker>uh we heard b- series of gunfire goin' off. <v Speaker>We didn't know where they were shooting. <v Speaker>You know, if they're shooting at us er er where they're shooting. <v Speaker>They're just a bunch of bunch of rounds going off. <v Berkin Pozo>[speaking Spanish] Because they spoke English, I couldn't understand them. <v Berkin Pozo>But my youngest daughter asked them what happened. <v Berkin Pozo>Well, we pretty much already knew what had happened because we saw them being chased <v Berkin Pozo>by this angry mob. <v Berkin Pozo>Yes, I was scared, but I thought they were just trying to help. <v Berkin Pozo>They were just trying to do their job.

<v Berkin Pozo>They were only trying to put out the fires. <v Berkin Pozo>I thought it was best. I knew that I could get hurt helping them. <v Berkin Pozo>But I always believed in God. And I thought, oh, well. <v Berkin Pozo>I thought about returning to El Salvador. <v Berkin Pozo>But even there, I have no one. <v Berkin Pozo>I came here we came here in 1986. <v Berkin Pozo>My husband and I came together. <v Berkin Pozo>He worked and I worked. And we got along okay, but we <v Berkin Pozo>got separated. And honestly, honestly, I don't know what to do. <v Berkin Pozo>I feel terrible. I have nothing. <v Berkin Pozo>I know I have nothing. Just my daughters. <v Speaker>[music plays] It's important that parents teach young brothers and sisters that we do <v Speaker>have enemies in this society and we do have a system that is an enemy to our people <v Speaker>and to our existence. And that you have to be serious minded and read not only the <v Speaker>things that your enemies give you in the school system, but the things that you need to

<v Speaker>nourish your mind, whether that's the autobiography of Malcolm X or whether that's <v Speaker>Francis Quest ?inaudible? [fades out]. <v Mary Lewis>If I do not pass your story back, I want you to take it out. <v Mary Lewis>Because Miss Horton and an editor from the L.A. <v Mary Lewis>Times is coming to help you write your editorial for the newspaper. <v Woman 2>What can everybody do so there'll be no more riots? <v Kid 1>Don't look at our color. <v Woman 2>Don't look at color. Very good. <v Kid 2>Uh get along with everybody no matter what race they are. <v Woman 2>Who said that? Get along with everybody. <v Woman 2>Who said can't we get along? <v Woman 2>During the riots? [children in unison] Rodney King. <v Woman 2>Absolutely. Absolutely. What else? <v Woman 2>What are some other solutions? What do people need? <v Kid 3>Money. <v Woman 2>Yes, people definitely need money. And how do you get money? <v Woman 2>Mhmm. <v Kid 4>Hire people.

<v Woman 2>Hire people. And what kind of jobs? <v Woman 2>Mhmm. <v Kid 5>Full time jobs? <v Woman 2>Full time jobs. The children do a newspaper in <v Woman 2>conjunction with the USC School of Journalism and <v Woman 2>the L.A. Times. <v Sue Horton>With the ?inaudible?, we will lay out the position of this classroom because you guys <v Sue Horton>are, in effect, the publishers of this newspaper. Right? <v Sue Horton>So we'll lay out what the publishers think is the right thing to think about the riots <v Sue Horton>and what happened. What are the whys that you came up with? <v Sue Horton>Very quickly. ?inaudible? <v Sue Horton>Stephen? <v Stephen>Prejudice? <v Sue Horton>Prejudice. [writing on chalk board] Big reason. Oh, I have a question. <v Sue Horton>How many of you in this room has at some time experienced something you think is <v Sue Horton>prejudice? Have you ever felt like somebody discriminated against you? <v Kid 6>Call me?inaudible? [laughter]. <v Kid 6>Cheech and Chong. <v Sue Horton>That's a terrible thing. That's really awful. <v Kid 7>And he talked about all the things he said about uh the kids who are talking about him. <v Kid 7>I felt sad. for him because I wouldn't talk about nobody like that.

<v Kid 7>But I know they do talk about him, and I wish that they wouldn't talk about him. <v Kid 8>Sometimes they make uh I hear them make fun of other people <v Kid 8>because of their color and sometimes they make fun of me. <v Kid 9>I get it from from like Latino kids, too. <v Kid 9>They go, you're Mexican. <v Kid 9>And then I just say, what do you think you are? <v Kid 9>The same thing. We're both Latino. <v Kid 9>They go no, I'm I'm I'm uh h- Hispanic. <v Kid 8>I don't like to think about other people because of their color and stuff. <v Kid 8>But sometimes I can't help myself and I do. <v Sue Horton>Let's in the editorial talk about how right here at home we need to to start <v Sue Horton>at this school eliminating prejudice. <v Sue Horton>Who wants to come up with a sentence? <v Kid 5>Even at- even at Martin Luther King, many people are prejudiced. <v Sue Horton>OK. <v Sue Horton>And what can we do to alleviate that here? Mhmm?

<v Kid 10>Students must get along with each other and be friends with <v Kid 10>with each other. <v Sue Horton>OK. And and it's despite ethnic differences. <v Sue Horton>Right. <v Kid 9>People should decide on how they act instead <v Kid 9>of how they look. <v Sue Horton>OK. Good idea.People should be judged by how they act rather than how <v Sue Horton>they look. <v Mary Lewis>Do you think you have enough information to base your judgement on. <v Kid 9>No. <v Mary Lewis>So what do you think you should do to get the information so that you can <v Mary Lewis>base your judgment on that? <v Kid 9>Um think ?I? should give them the newspaper? <v Mary Lewis>I've been at Martin Luther King for 5 years and I've been teaching <v Mary Lewis>18 years. I've always taught in the inner city schools in L.A. <v Mary Lewis>and in Chicago. The students love the newspaper project

<v Mary Lewis>and it's the growth that I have seen in them, just self-esteem. <v Mary Lewis>Let alone the academics of it. <v Mary Lewis>It's marvelous. I wish every school could have it. <v Mary Lewis>[bell rings] I <v Mary Lewis>really enjoy working in the inner city and <v Mary Lewis>I find that I'm rewarded, you know, by the kids. <v Mary Lewis>Uh kids will always come back to me and, you know, tell me what I did for them or what <v Mary Lewis>they learned. And that's an incentive to stay where I am. <v Mary Lewis>I've known many teachers that have worked in the inner city that didn't wanna stay and <v Mary Lewis>left [sirens]. They feel their own safety is threatened by going into <v Mary Lewis>the inner city and they feel that minority children, <v Mary Lewis>ya know quote, just don't have it. <v Mary Lewis>I can understand, you know, being afraid to come into the neighborhood and stuff.

<v Mary Lewis>But I don't understand you know the inference that minority children you know <v Mary Lewis>don't have the intelligence, of the white children. <v Mary Lewis>Before the riots, a number of teachers would. <v Mary Lewis>You would walk over to Burger King for lunch. <v Mary Lewis>And now since the riots and all of the unrest <v Mary Lewis>teachers are hesitant about walking across the street. <v Mary Lewis>With all the newspaper articles and the magazines and everything that was written <v Mary Lewis>about the riots. <v Mary Lewis>I really felt bad when I would ?read?, you know, <v Mary Lewis>if this doesn't change your will uh you know, every whitey that comes <v Mary Lewis>into the neighborhood, we're gonna get him. <v Mary Lewis>And, you know, I haven't done anything and I don't think that I should be a target. <v Mary Lewis>Just because I'm white. <v Mary Lewis>I would say the majority of white teachers don't live in the neighborhood.

<v Mary Lewis>I lived in West L.A., I was renting an apartment and I live with my son. <v Mary Lewis>And I decided that I would, you know, buy something and I couldn't afford <v Mary Lewis>anything in the city. <v Mary Lewis>And this is one of the places that I could afford. <v Mary Lewis>At one time I would have considered living you know in <v Mary Lewis>the inner city. But I didn't and I had problems <v Mary Lewis>and being alone now, it's not worth it. <v Mary Lewis>I have no one else to rely on except myself, and if something happens to me, <v Mary Lewis>then I have no means of support ?or does? <v Mary Lewis>my son. [music plays] <v Woman 3>I stand before you as representative of the Los Angeles Police Department to let you know

<v Woman 3>we the police officers, excepted Francis <v Woman 3>as a member of our family. <v Man 6>I'm so very, very pleased that representatives of the police department are here <v Man 6>because Francis understood the importance of discipline <v Man 6>and the special charge that those who maintain discipline have as their own <v Man 6>personal burdens. [singing] <v Officer Reggie Page>My relationship d- uh developed over the years with uh Evangelist Williams, she's been a

<v Officer Reggie Page>very strong uh person within her community. <v Officer Reggie Page>She worked not only with the good citizens of the community, but she also worked with <v Officer Reggie Page>those uh gang members and troubled kids. <v Officer Reggie Page>And her message was spiritual, giving the counseling that maybe <v Officer Reggie Page>other people couldn't take the time to give to those who need it. <v Reverand Evans>?inaudible? and I'm Reverand Evans. <v Man 8>Reverand Evans. <v Reverand Evans>So it's a great thing to see man <v Reverand Evans>of your caliber participating in uh, a home going service like this. <v Reverand Evans>Oh, yes. ?inaudible? <v Man 8>Basically, I got the information that she had passed away and we spoke with family <v Man 8>members. We asked, was there anything in which we as officers could do <v Man 8>or participate uh in the celebration of her life as well <v Man 8>as in her death? And they they asked if we would mind being pallbearers. <v Reverand Evans>Let us bow our heads. Our father, our God. The maker and creator of all mankind. <v Officer Reggie Page>I think she won a great deal of admiration and respect within

<v Officer Reggie Page>our community. Uh you know, I grew up in a a a community that had a kind of an extended <v Officer Reggie Page>family. You know, I grew up in New York, in Harlem. <v Officer Reggie Page>And when my mother was working, there were people that kind of looked out for me. <v Officer Reggie Page>And I think she represented what in terms I grew up with. <v Officer Reggie Page>And the point is, is that that kind of impact within a community still works. <v Margie Evans>And Francis came out with no fear and approached these gangs. <v Margie Evans>Now that takes something. <v Margie Evans>I mean, you have to have a strong faith, belief in God to go out here and tackle <v Margie Evans>this kind of generation. <v Woman 4>She's one of the few persons I know that took the time out with the gang members. <v Woman 4>She wasn't afraid to talk to the gang members. <v Woman 4>She would put her arms around 'em and love 'em. [fades out] <v Man 9>Wants to listen and take time to reach out a hand of love and their lives

<v Man 9>have been changed, gang members and others whose lives have been changed because of her <v Man 9>love, because of her concern. [singing] <v Bernard Ricketts>I was scared to death on many occasions because <v Bernard Ricketts>she has woke up in the night with a gun in her face, and she said, Praise the Lord, <v Bernard Ricketts>what you need, take it. <v Bernard Ricketts>And they would take it er, in one occasion uh she related to me, the <v Bernard Ricketts>fellow climbed back out the window and said, I'm sorry, ma'am. <v Margie Evans>One of the young gang bangers that lives possibly right in front of us. <v Margie Evans>This young man had been verbally abusing her in front of all of the neighbors. <v Margie Evans>Yeah. Insultin' her and insultin' her. <v Margie Evans>And then a couple of weeks ago, she was in the yard watering. <v Margie Evans>She'd said the berries or something, had been on the ground and she needed to get them up <v Margie Evans>because there was tracking in the house.

<v Margie Evans>And he came over and said, I apologize to <v Margie Evans>you for what I have done. <v Margie Evans>It's amazing to me. It's amazing and all of those all of us who believe that <v Margie Evans>God is real. We know that is a testimony within itself. <v Margie Evans>That was for me and my understanding, her home going joy, <v Margie Evans>that this young man chose to come over and give her the reward, something <v Margie Evans>that she was working so hard for and embraced her after that, put his arms <v Margie Evans>around her and told her he loves her. <v Officer Reggie Page>The most astonishing thing that I can remember about Evangelist Williams is that we would <v Officer Reggie Page>have block club meetings. She would, no matter what, if there was one person in at <v Officer Reggie Page>her home, she'd make it as if there were 50. <v Officer Reggie Page>She had that much energy and fortitude to persevere, no matter what the obstacles. <v Officer Reggie Page>No matter what the uh indifference was. <v Officer Reggie Page>South-west is an extremely unique division uh it encompasses every strata, every income,

<v Officer Reggie Page>every ethnic group within the city of Los Angeles. <v Officer Reggie Page>The office is called PACE Police Assisted Community Enhancement, and what we've done <v Officer Reggie Page>is gone into the community and had the community assist us and we <v Officer Reggie Page>assist the community. Sometimes I get people to participate. <v Officer Reggie Page>Other times I'll make an assessment of the year. <v Officer Reggie Page>I say this is what we have as a problem, be it narcotics. <v Officer Reggie Page>This is what we need to do to eliminate this narcotics problem. <v Officer Reggie Page>If it means everyone in the community are putting a particular lighting <v Officer Reggie Page>system on their front porch, that's something that as a community they can do and work <v Officer Reggie Page>together in doing. <v Margie Evans>And I believe they will do this in every community if people would give them a chance <v Margie Evans>and just see them as human beings and stop putting them up there, it's like some- what <v Margie Evans>do you call it? The robot cop? I think they've seen too many movies. <v Margie Evans>All these machines, these are human beings with loving hearts and families. <v Officer Reggie Page>My uh son is 9 years old and he's quite proud of me and I'm quite proud <v Officer Reggie Page>of him. During the um the King trial, we discussed it in

<v Officer Reggie Page>uh terms of what was taking place. <v Officer Reggie Page>Uh I also explained to him that as there are good officers there are also bad officers. <v Officer Reggie Page>And uh I went further to say that there are good and bad people in every walk <v Officer Reggie Page>of life and that it is not in terms of how a person looks as it is from what <v Officer Reggie Page>they get from their heart and what they get from their mind. <v Reverand Evans>I wonder, I wonder. <v Reverand Evans>Will I welcome death when life on earth is done. <v Reverand Evans>I wonder. I wonder did I end my tasks with the setting of the <v Reverand Evans>sun. I wonder. ?inaudible? <v Officer Reggie Page>Did my relationship was <v Officer Reggie Page>a setback because of the riots, my relations with people did not suffer. <v Officer Reggie Page>I think I've worked with people long enough that they know who I am as an individual and <v Officer Reggie Page>they respect who I am. <v Officer Reggie Page>Of course, um I felt particular setback in that I had <v Officer Reggie Page>lived through two riots, one at both in Harlem when I was growing up, and that I just <v Officer Reggie Page>never thought I'd see a city come to that or its people come to that

<v Officer Reggie Page>ever again. <v Margie Evans>I don't know uh what the future holds, but I pray <v Margie Evans>that we all as people learn to respect each other and continue <v Margie Evans>to uphold the policemen that are good people. <v Margie Evans>Cuz I wouldn't wanna live in Los Angeles or nowhere else in this world without law. <v Officer Reggie Page>[inaudible speaking in background] Point is, is that uh law enforcement is not the end <v Officer Reggie Page>all answer for the social ills of our community. <v Officer Reggie Page>It's something that we have to as people realize and then really want to do something <v Officer Reggie Page>about. I think uh the community itself <v Officer Reggie Page>sees a different officer now, and that in itself is a switch. <v Officer Reggie Page>I've had many, many people come up and say thank you for a job that you're doing. <v Officer Reggie Page>I wouldn't have your job for the world, but I'm thankful that you're at least doing it. <v Officer Reggie Page>[woman singing] <v Reverand Evans>Life is real and life is honest, but the grave is not to go. <v Reverand Evans>We come to celebrate a homegoing Francis Williams.

<v Reverand Evans>[sirens] [music] <v Bona Lee>[inaudible arguing] You have no right to take anything from our property. <v Bona Lee>There is a big sign, no trespass, you know? <v Bona Lee>[arguing continues] <v Bona Lee>This is my property, this there my money's in here.

<v Bona Lee>This is all my 20 years monies in here. <v Bona Lee>You stupid. <v Bona Lee>And they don't even fear anything here. <v Bona Lee>They don't even think anything bad about, you know, they think that that is right. <v Bona Lee>Universe justice ?inaudible?. <v Bona Lee>You know there is no justice. Don't look at me like that. Ya know, what did you do? <v Bona Lee>When I paid a taxi ?inaudible? <v Bona Lee>and then you're still and your breaking. <v Bona Lee>You know, I mean, you guys have understanding. <v Bona Lee>You know what, what they doing you know take a picture what they doing? <v Bona Lee>OK. <v Man 10>I'm ?gonna take that from you?. You understand that? You understand that? <v Bona Lee>[traffic sounds] My husband came here 'bout 21 years ago and I came here 'bout 19

<v Bona Lee>years ago. About 19 years ago. <v Bona Lee>And my chil- my two children was born in here. <v Bona Lee>When I was little, I always dream about America as the country of <v Bona Lee>the, you know, opportunity, a country of the freedom, you know. <v Bona Lee>That's why ?inaudible? coming over here. <v James Lee>They're working really hard, you know, she work in post office and uh <v James Lee>[Bona: I've been working post office for 15 years] 15 years- <v Bona Lee>And then during the day time [James: Day time working, working real estate and uh-] <v Bona Lee>[Bona and James talking at same time] ?inaudible? Sometimes I work in doctor's office. <v Bona Lee>Sometimes I'm selling the insurance, sometimes you know, I learn <v Bona Lee>some new things and I go back to patients and I learned some <v Bona Lee>other scary ?inaudible?. <v Bona Lee>I never I never sleep more than five hours.

<v Bona Lee>You know, last 20 years. <v Bona Lee>And then we save all this money. <v Bona Lee>And finally, this this is my first business, you know. <v Bona Lee>And we save all the money and get us some bank loans. <v Bona Lee>And then we build, I mean we ?started? <v Bona Lee>this business. And that's just it, it's gone like ash. <v Bona Lee>The mass media, they took him, but, you know, another the career march and <v Bona Lee>shooting on that day and on the ?inaudible? and stories. <v Bona Lee>You know, why didn't I mention how many Korean merchandise, the black <v Bona Lee>?peoples? ?inaudible? you know. If they didn't ?stop? <v Bona Lee>stealing, you know, it's never gonna happen. <v Bona Lee>If they're not coming, my store tried to stealing the black people never gonna <v Bona Lee>?inaudible?. It's not- whoever. <v Bona Lee>It's not a ?black and Korean?. You know, why do people keep saying about the black <v Bona Lee>African American and Korean American, you know? <v Bona Lee>There's only one merchant and another, you know, customers things.

<v Bona Lee>And then if they keep saying about those things in racism, you know <v Bona Lee>how bad the people died you know? <v Bona Lee>Last year, so 46 peoples died from the <v Bona Lee>?inaudible?. You know why? How are they gonna explain about they and [Camera man: these <v Bona Lee>Koreans who] Korean ?inaudible?, the liquor store honors the <v Bona Lee>dead last year. 'Bout 45, 46. <v Bona Lee>You know, why didn't they mention about that? <v Bona Lee>And they mention, you know, one one teenager <v Bona Lee>?inaudible? by a Korean merchant and they raised racist things. <v Bona Lee>And then another thing, they never even mention about it. <v Bona Lee>I supposed to understanding their anger you know, and then I supposed to be <v Bona Lee>and understanding their anger and they for- forgive them, you know, but <v Bona Lee>who gonna understand my anger inside my mind, you know, who gonna pay or <v Bona Lee>you know this. You know, how can I express my feelings?

<v Bona Lee>Like, you know, like the vandalism and hatred. <v Bona Lee>You know what else we can do? You know? <v Bona Lee>I mean, maybe there is some ?inaudible?, you know, maybe the outside of the, you know, <v Bona Lee>maybe physically. You know I mean the- it's kind of looks same as before. <v Bona Lee>But inside, you know, the- emotionally, I don't think until <v Bona Lee>I close my eyes and until I- you know, until I'm dead, you know, <v Bona Lee>I never gonna feel same as you know the people ?walk? <v Bona Lee>in my store. You know, it's- I'm a human being. <v Bona Lee>I can't be like a god, you know. <v Bona Lee>I can't be a somebody like, you know, high authority. <v Bona Lee>I'm only the person I'm only the, you know, ?small? <v Bona Lee>business people. I cannot be same as I cannot be <v Bona Lee>always nice as before. <v Bona Lee>Maybe I tried to be nice, but there is no healing at all, period. <v Bona Lee>Yeah. <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>The most Honorable Elijah Mohammed at one point sent his

<v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>national assistant and national spokesman, Minister Malcolm <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>X, to this area during the late 50s to establish <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>a self-help or self-reliance program for black people. <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>This is one of the most oppressed, repressed and depressed <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>areas in the entire city of Los Angeles. <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>And of course, where the greatest pain, the greatest hurt, the greatest frustration <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>and disenfranchisement, wherever that is, it is always <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>the potential for sparks, no matter how small, to <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>ignite the fire that burns forever in the souls and <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>minds and hearts of the oppressed. <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>And so the black man and woman of this area, Rodney King was almost <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>insignificant. Just the straw that, in a sense, broke the camel's back. <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>If you rebuild Los Angeles, we're talking about a return to the <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>status quo. If something is built and then we speak of

<v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>rebuilding, we are talking about business as usual. <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>Black people have no vested interest in the rebuilding of Los Angeles <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>for the same bloodsuckers of the black community to return to their shops <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>and stores will do nothing for the condition of black people. <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>The wretched condition, I might add, of black people here in South Central <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>and the South Centrals all across America where we should expect the <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>same thing to erupt. <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>We say to our brothers and sisters who come in uh the ?La Raza?, <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>brothers and sisters, Chicano, as we say to them, the same dog <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>that bit you bit us, too. <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>We are the same people. We are one family. <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>And when we see this kind of unity by the black and the brown and the red <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>begin to pull together against a common enemy and a common oppressor, <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>then the enemy is in serious trouble. <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>Certainly we have some difficulties to work out as among

<v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>our brothers and sisters they have their dif- difficulties to work out and we have <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>internally, as we just spoke of the Crips and Bloods, but it just doesn't stop at Crips <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>and Bloods. We have to also deal with those who have [audio cuts out] the B.S. <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>and the M.A. and the PhD degree and those who are in <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>corporate America and those who wear the blue uniform on the police force or wear <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>the uniform of the sheriff's department who happen to be black, who might, in a <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>condescending way, deal with the black community where there are others who <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>we find there's a growing consciousness among black policemen and black sheriffs <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>and blacks who in corporate America. <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>I would hope it would be my sincere desire that as we do all <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>of this, that the black community would become stronger and more viable <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>and tighter, and that we would stop depending on some white man <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>in Washington, DC or some white man at the state capitol, but <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>that we would begin to believe that the only help we have and the

<v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>only hope we have is in our God, the God of our ancestors and our forefathers <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>and the spirit and power of that God that is in the person <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>of the black man and black woman here in this community. <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>Then and only then will we be able to say, in the words of Dr. <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>King. Free at last. <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>Free at last, thank God Almighty. <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>Then and only then will we be free at <v Dr. Khalid Mohammad>last. <v Man 11>[children jumping rope and counting] How long you been on this one? <v Woody Taylor>Been on this one 27 years. <v Woody Taylor>Been in the service 35. Yes. 37 ?inaudible?. <v Man 11>So what is your route basically? <v Woody Taylor>Uh I got the avenue's third, fourth and fifth from fifth to fourth to?

<v Woody Taylor>inaudible? and back and the side streets, a 52nd, 48 and ?inaudible?. <v Woody Taylor>[dogs barking] <v Woody Taylor>Hey! <v Woman 5>Hello there. <v Woody Taylor>How you doing? <v Woman 5>I'm fine. How are you? <v Woody Taylor>Not too bad. <v Woody Taylor>I think that's all today. <v Woman 5>What's this about? <v Woody Taylor>?inaudible? <v Woman 5>Oh we have a splendid area. <v Man 11>How is this so peaceful here? <v Woody Taylor>Since the riot? <v Woman 5>Um I don't know. Most residents in here are longtime residents and we <v Woman 5>value our property and we take care of it as you can see. <v Woman 5>And uh I think I've only lived here 26 years. <v Woman 5>And [laughs] so we we do care about our property and our area, our community <v Woman 5>at large. <v Woman 6>If you look at the media, they'll show you the slum areas, but they do not <v Woman 6>show you the areas of people that have worked out a lot of years.

<v Woman 6>Right. Most of the people in this area are retired now and and like she said take a lot <v Woman 6>of pride into their homes and where they live. <v Woman 6>And so they pick that and deplete the part that they would like for <v Woman 6>the rest of the world to see, but not actually seeing the way that we are and the way <v Woman 6>we live. <v Woody Taylor>Morning, good morning! <v Woman 7>Morning! How are you this morning? <v Woody Taylor>?inaudible? <v Woman 7>Wait! Is this a movie? <v Woody Taylor>You know it. <v Woman 7>Alright, great! How is everything? <v Woody Taylor>?inaudible? <v Woman 7>[laughing] Fantastic, isn't that great. <v Woody Taylor>?inaudible? <v Woman 7>A little later on today. <v Woman 7>Yeah. Do you know one really good? <v Woody Taylor>Um more or less, guessin' today. <v Woman 7>Guessin'? What's a good guess? <v Woody Taylor>Uh ?inaudible? <v Woman 7>?inaudible? I'll put a ?50 to 1? on it- <v Woody Taylor>Thank you. [woman laughs] Thank you. <v Man 11>Can I ask you guys a couple of questions? <v Woman 7>Yes. <v Man 11>How long have you been living in the neighborhood? <v Woman 7>20 years. <v Man 11>20 years. And you've known Woody? <v Woman 7>20 years. [laughter] As long as he's been our postman, 20 years.

<v Woman 7>Great guy. [Husband: great man, yeah]. Very good. <v Woman 7>Fantastic. <v Man 11>So what kind of neighborhood was it like 20 years ago when you first moved in? <v Woman 7>Well, it's uh just about the same to me. <v Woman 7>Yeah. It hasn't changed that much. <v Woman 7>Same neighbors for 20 years. <v Woman 7>We've had the same neighbors, only maybe a few across the street or just moved <v Woman 7>in recently. But all these people have been living here all that same time. <v Woman 7>Mhmm. <v Man 11>So between um, so what happened after April 29th? <v Woman 7>They're still here. No changes. <v Woman 7>We're still here. Everything's the same. <v Woody Taylor>Attitudes uh were shortly after April 9th, I guess kinda, heated. <v Woody Taylor>But now they're getting back to normal. <v Woody Taylor>You know, people are kind of calming down a bit and attitudes are getting back to normal, <v Woody Taylor>especially in you know my area here where I carry the mail. <v Speaker>[audio cuts out] [video skips] <v Woody Taylor>OK. They're ?accepting?

<v Woody Taylor>situations as they are knowing that there's nothing that <v Woody Taylor>they can or we can do about it. <v Woody Taylor>So they're just accepting the situation as is. <v Woody Taylor>The new generation, the new breed <v Woody Taylor>uh with no jobs, with an idle mind, with nothing to do <v Woody Taylor>and uh not getting the proper education that they need to go out into <v Woody Taylor>society. You know, this kind of affects them. <v Man 11>But you don't see ?inaudible? right now. <v Man 11>?inaudible? <v Woody Taylor>No. <v Woody Taylor>Most of my younger people in my neighborhood are more <v Woody Taylor>or less disciplined by the people that you've seen here, you know, by the elders. <v Woody Taylor>And I don't have that problem in the media and certainly not on my route. <v Man 11>How could there be such a big difference? <v Man 11>It's amazing.

<v Woody Taylor>I would say that uh people and environment itself. <v Woody Taylor>You have some kids that have been gang orientated for so long <v Woody Taylor>until that, you know, it's hard to accept change. <v Woody Taylor>[video skips] It's hard for them to want to change.