#introductions Hi! 👋 I'm John and I'm an academic #librarian in #LosAngeles where I head up my library's outreach and engagement team. I've been working in libraries for about 15 years.
I love spending time #gardening, listening to podcasts, wine tasting (read: drinking), reading, and being with my family.
We might buy a piano soon.
I was an avid user of the bird site since 2007 but stopped posting over a year ago. I miss the community of library folk I found there. 😢
Which reminds me, I must post today’s podcast. My guest is a legally blind author who writes blind characters with agency. I am in awe! (I am vision impaired, that’s not ableist inspo pron, it’s “omg one of my tribe beat bigotry to do this awesome thing”.)
Rodney King suffered a fractured skull and cheekbone after being beaten by 4 Los Angeles, CA police officers, who were charged with a number of offenses. Many Angelenos felt certain of a conviction. After all, there was irrefutable proof in the form of a video captured by George Holliday, then, blasted across the airwaves. Wrong! Not guilty!
@Deglassco@blackmastodon@BlackMastodon
There are those in our country who don’t want racial tensions discussed or taught in schools because some imaginary white kid might feel guilty about the way white cops treated a black man. Nor do they want cops to feel ashamed of their racist treatment of non-whites.
These people are called fools.
I lived in Idaho at the time but was a San Diego native. My hometown saw a bit of violence as well.
@Deglassco@blackmastodon@BlackMastodon the missing part is about the girl Tasha who was shot in the bacc by an Asian store owner which ignited the riots in @losangelas
The 1980s brought rising poverty, unemployment, gang activity, drugs & violent crime to the poorer neighborhoods of Los Angeles, CA. Repeated violent encounters between police officers and civilians led many minority communities to believe that LAPD brass were not holding officers accountable, Thus, the stage was set for one of the most significant civil uprisings in American history.
@Deglassco@blackmastodon@BlackMastodon Thank you for this perspective. I remember it well, but did not really understand the significance of this until much later.
Although sparked by the acquittal of 4 white police officers who beat Rodney King, the roots of the 1992 Los Angeles riots can be traced back through decades of racial, economic, & political tensions. Therefore, to understand the magnitude & depth of anger that fueled the riots, one must consider the historical context that set the stage for this tumultuous event.
@Deglassco@blackmastodon@BlackMastodon what’s always weird to me as a GenX miamian is that 12 years earlier, Miami went through the same thing except no citizens’ video, the cops beat Arthur McDuffie to death, yet almost everyone from outside Miami either never heard about it or forgot it.
A city ripped itself apart and no one remembers or cares.
@Deglassco@blackmastodon@BlackMastodon TWW:
Great without measure or small and fragile, fierce with strength or timid and quiet as a thought are God’s messengers.
*Thank you for your clear and concise writing. The Watts riots we’re in monochrome on an old tv but changed the direction of civil progress. Rodney King and his trial was prime time. Such a long road. Stay strong. Regards to All. OWOP
Certainly not a fan (more like lesser of evils) regarding Meta and Microsoft, but I would like them to take legal action against Musk's new X.
Since high school in the 1980s I have been fan of the Los Angeles based punk band "X" and it would be some kind of wonderful if they could find a way to sue Musk and X the corporation also ;-)
If you work for an outlet or publication that’s pulling together an end-of-year book list, I’d love to get you a review copy of #OilBeach for consideration. Let me know! 🛢️ 🏖️ 📙
South Pasadena, California's "Transit Division is undergoing a division assessment to evaluate the current Dial-A-Ride program, staffing and operations, as well as assessing the possibility of additional transit services for the community. Mobility Advancement Group, Evan Brooks Associates and the City of South Pasadena will be hosting two community meetings on Tuesday, November 14, 2023"
Today in Labor History August 29, 1970: LAPD brutally attacked 10,000 Chicano antiwar demonstrators, killing three, including journalist Ruben Salazar. The attack led to a week of rioting. Salazar was portrayed under the name "Roland Zanzibar" in Oscar Zeta Acosta's 1973 novel “The Revolt of the Cockroach People.” Oscar Zeta Acosta, himself, was portrayed in Hunter S. Thompson’s “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” as his “Samoan attorney.” Salazar wrote for the L.A. Times and was the first mainstream journalist to cover the Chicano community. He covered the 1965 U.S. occupation of the Dominican Republican, as well as the 1968 Tlatelolco Massacre in Mexico City. He often wrote critically about how the local L.A. government treated Chicano people, particularly during and after the school walkouts.