K.W. Lee will be speaking at tomorrow’s town hall. Photo by Hyungwon Kang
The Asian American Journalists Association is inviting members of the community to take part in an open dialogue about the Los Angeles riots 18 years later.
The town hall-style meeting will take place Saturday, Aug. 7, from 12:15 p.m. to 2 p.m. at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel, 1755 N. Highland Ave. in Hollywood. It will feature a panel of top-flight journalists and community representatives, including Larry Aubry, a Los Angeles Sentinel columnist; Bill Boyarsky, former city editor of the Los Angeles Times and a USC journalism professor; Sandra Hernandez of the L.A. Daily Journal; Hyungwon Kang, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist who was working at the L.A. Times during the riots; K.W. Lee, a veteran investigative reporter and former editor of the Korea Times English Edition; and Angela Oh, director of the Western Justice Center.
The L.A. riots, or Saigu as it is called by ethnic Koreans, was a deeply traumatic event for our community. On April 29, 1992, the city of Angels burned, choked and wailed for three days and nights after a rebellion against police brutality gave way to the nation’s first multiethnic riots. The casualties were high: 54 people lost their lives, 2,000 were injured and $1 billion in material damage occurred. An estimated 2,300 Korean American-run stores were either burned down, damaged or looted, with many targeted for destruction.
What have we learned 18 years later? Be part of the dialogue about one of history’s most controversial racial media stories.
The Asian American Journalists Association is a non-profit professional and educational organization with more than 1,000 members across the United States and in Asia.
