April Issue: LA Riots, In Our Own Words: KoreAm retraces the days and nights of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, a defining event in Korean America's collective history.
How Koreatown Rose From The Ashes Of L.A. Riots: "Prior to 1992, Korean immigrants considered themselves Korean. But after 1992, they began to call themselves Korean-Americans."
Korean Store Owner On Arming Himself For Riots: NPR's Michel Martin talks to Kee Whan Ha, owner of Koreatown's Hannam Chain store, about arming himself, defending his property during the riots, and the neighborhood today.
Riot Victim's Mom Calls for Peace: The parents of Eddie Lee, the riots' only Korean American victim, say it was social inequality that fueled the chaos that killed their then-18-year-old son.
South L.A., Twenty Years Later: E. Tammy Kim interviews people who lived through the 1992 Los Angeles riots, seeking to find what's changed and what's remained the same, twenty years later.
Korean American businessman recalls L.A. riots: Twenty years later, Ellis Yunseong Cha works to avert another clash, reaching out to non-Korean neighbors and friends.
Could the LA Riots Happen Again? Stewart Kwoh, president and executive director of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, talks about the much-needed efforts on the part of civic and community leaders to ensure that Los Angeles is never again torn apart by the violence and anger of 1992.
Reflections on Saigu, 20 Years Later: "Twenty years later, I find myself thinking about how much the Korean American community has changed, but still faces enduring challenges. Although the community has grown and gained more political power, racial injustice and economic disparity -- the root causes of Saigu -- are still very real."
How Do We Prevent Another L.A. Riot? Give Youth a Voice: "If you lived in Los Angeles on April 29, 1992, you remember where you were when the city began to burn."
Living Dangerously in America's Own Killing Fields: Over at YOMYOMF, pioneer journalist K.W. Lee reflects on the twentieth anniversary of Sa-i-gu.
20 Years After the Riots: A More Worldly Los Angeles, A More Insular Los Angeles Times: In the wake of the riots, the Los Angeles Times made a notable effort to diversify the racial makeup of its news staff, but according to this piece, twenty years later, the paper is actually less diverse than it was before 1992.
Randall Park Reflects on the Riots: Actor and KoreAm columnist Randall Park looks back on his teenage love of popular Black culture, what living through the riots meant for him, and why shaving a Nike swoosh into the side of your head is never, ever a good idea.
