Listen to this segment | the entire program

On April 29th 1992, a predominantly white jury acquitted four LAPD officers in the videotaped beating of a black man named Rodney King. That evening existing unrest in Los Angeles, sparked by the verdict, resulted in the outbreak of an all-out riot that lasted five days. A total of 53 people died: 25 blacks, 16 Latinos, 8 whites, 2 East Asians and 2 West Asians. Approximately 3,600 fires were set, destroying 1,100 buildings. About 10,000 people were arrested. Stores owned by Korean and other Asian immigrants were widely targeted, although stores owned by whites and blacks were also targeted.

Three days after the violence began, President George H W Bush an announcement to deploy federal troops.

The Rodney King verdict triggered a violent response …

Listen to this segment | the entire program

GUESTS: Travielle J Craig, inmate at Lancaster Prison, Janice Cosey, Travielle’s mother

While thousands were arrested on charges of assault, arson, and vandalism over several days, only three people were ever convicted of murder. A minor was charged with the murder of 65 year old Juana Espinosa and given a two year sentence at a juvenile camp. Two adults and a juvenile were convicted for the murder of 38 year old Paul Douglas Horace, but the murder was eventually deemed non-riot related. Finally, one adult named Travielle J Craig was arrested for the attempted murders of Elias Garcia Rivera and Victor Medina. He was formally charged with two counts of attempted murder and one count of attempted robbery.

According to the coroner’s report obtained by …

Listen to this segment | the entire program

GUESTS: Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Executive Director of the Community Coalition, Edward Park, Director and Associate Professor at the Asian Pacific American Studies Program at Loyola Marymount University

Presidential candidate Barack Obama addressed South Central’s First AME Church on the 15th anniversary of what the LA Times called “the nation’s most violent modern civil uprising.” According to Obama, little had been done to fix the chronic social and economic conditions that gave rise to the riots that killed at least 53 people. An important dimension of the LA riots was the tension between black, Latino, and Korean residents. Many promises were made in the aftermath of the riots to rebuild LA, but the issue of unemployment and poverty remains.

The Community Coalition can be reached online at www.ccsapt.org. …

“The riot is the language of the unheard.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

A One Man Musical Revolution

(Originally published on Znet, April 29th, 2007)

Former Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello embarks on a revolutionary solo mission as “The Nightwatchman.”

Musician and political activist Tom Morello has just released his first solo album, “One Man Revolution,” as his alter ego, “The Nightwatchman.” Perhaps best known for his innovative guitar solos and heavy rock riffs, Tom Morello turns to his acoustic guitar on “One Man Revolution.” Released on April 24th, the album features thirteen politically charged folk songs including “No One Left,” which first appeared on the soundtrack, “Songs and Artists That Inspired Fahrenheit 9/11.” The songs are a musical departure from Morello’s previous work as a guitarist for Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave. This new album features subtle rhythms and melodies coupled with dark politically lyrical themes. The Nightwatchman has long been a staple at political rallies in …

Our weekly edition is a nationally syndicated one-hour digest of the best of our daily coverage.

Audio Stream | Podcast | Mp3 Download

This week on Uprising:

* Boris Yeltsin’s Real Legacy
* Empire Notes on “De-Iraqification”
* Govt Agencies Impact Media Access
* Black Agenda Report on Barack Obama and Dennis Kucinich
* One Man Revolution: Tom Morello’s Newest Project

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Yeltsin’s Real Legacy

GUEST: David Kotz, Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, co-author with Fred Weir of “Russia’s Path From Gorbachev to Putin”

Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin’s funeral was held last week as the Kremlin declared a national day of mourning. Yeltsin died …

Listen to this segment | the entire program

GUEST: Gustavo Arellano, award winning columnist at the OC Weekly and contributing editor at the Los Angeles Times

Was there ever anything you wanted to know about Mexicans, but were too politically correct to ask? For two years now, Gustavo Arellano of the OC Weekly has fielded numerous questions from readers about Mexicans in his notorious column, “¡Ask a Mexican!” Now newly released in book form, questions posed to “The Mexican,” range from the curious such as, “What’s the song La Bamba about?” to the downright racist, “What part of Illegal don’t Mexicans understand?” Arellano navigates the long list of inquires, which he describes as being like a queue at the check out lane of a Northgate Supermarket, with unrestrained wit, sarcasm, and research. Not everyone is in …

Listen to this segment | the entire program

GUESTS: Aquilina Soriano-Versoza, Director of Filipino Workers Center, Alma Castro, local youth activist, currently working with the March 25th Coalition, Lee Siu-Hin, National Coordinator of the National Immigrant Solidarity Network, also with Action-LA, Carolina Sarmiento, El Centro Cultural de Mexico

On May 1st last year, hundreds of thousands of immigrants, immigrant advocates, and other activists and residents marched in cities across the United States. Here in Southern California, May Day events were centered around two main marches, a morning event advocating a general boycott – a Day without an Immigrant – and the other, a more moderate afternoon event with a broader support base. May day was originally celebrated to commemorate the Haymarket Riots of 1886 in the US and has been the center of …

Listen to this segment | the entire program

GUEST: Brian Domanick, collective member at the New Standard

The New Standard, an independent, non-profit, and commercial free online newspaper, published its last edition today. The five staffers who form the collective of journalists that manage The New Standard came to the conclusion that they could no longer continue without a greater level of fiscal support. Last September, Uprising highlighted funding problems with the online independent news service as it was in danger of discontinuing. Throughout its tenure, The New Standard has been based on the principle of reader donations and has never accepted foundation grants nor advertisements. Internally governed by democratic participatory principles, The New Standard’s independent model allowed for it to be free of commercial interests. For the past three and a …

Listen to this segment | the entire program

GUEST: Glen Ford is a writer and radio commentator and the Executive Editor of The Black Agenda Report

This week’s commentary is on Barack Obama and Dennis Kucinich. Visit www.blackagendareport.com for more information.