Uprising:Hip Hop & the LA Riots

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April 29, 1992, when a jury acquitted three white and one Hispanic Los Angeles Police Department officers accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King following a high-speed pursuit. Thousands of people in the Los Angeles area rioted over the six days following the verdict.Widespread looting, assault, arson and murder occurred, and property damages topped roughly $1 billion. In all, 53 people died during the riots and thousands more were injured.Many of the disturbances were concentrated in South Central Los Angeles, which was primarily composed of African American and Hispanic residents. Half of all riot arrestees and more than a third of those killed during the violence were Hispanic.20 years later in a documentary narrated by Snoop Dogg and directed by Mark Ford includes Rodney King, Arsenio Hall, Ice T, Professor Todd Boyd (USC), Connie Rice (Civil Rights attorney), John Singleton, Too Short,Kurupt, KRS-One, Nas, Henry Watson and many more."Uprising" documents how hip hop forecasted – and some say ignited – the worst civil unrest of the 20th century. The film revisits the riots in gripping detail and draws from a diverse collection of voices – the rappers, rioters, victims, police officers, journalists and everyday citizens of South Central Los Angeles. The documentary traces the rise of dissent in Los Angeles in the 80's and 90's and explores why citizens chose to rise up violently against police abuse and perceived injustices.Twenty years later, Uprising examines the role Hip-Hop played in the revolution and reuniting of a fractured Los Angeles after the fallout from the Rodney King beating left the tense city ablaze with rebellion.Its was a message throughout music which included politics and society in the early 90's in Los Angeles with artist such as Dr.Dre,Snoop Dogg,Ice Cube,and many more which became a very important evolution of Hip-Hop by the West Coast.

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