Part of the Meyer and Renee Luskin Lecture Series
Since April 29, 1992, the city of Los Angeles has not been the same, with racial tension peaking and riots sparking across the city making it clear that drastic change was being demanded in the relationship between police officers and racial minorities. Twenty-five years after the LA Uprising, there is still a question of the treatment of people of color and the socio-political factors in Los Angeles.
As our city continues to navigate modern activism, it is crucial to reflect on the history of political and social organizing that has created the Los Angeles of today. Join us as we utilize art and media to examine the socio-political factors that provoked the 1992 LA Uprising and its impact in the racial and economic climate in LA and across the US today.
The events will include two panels featuring a discussion of the evolution of community organizing as well as the role media, particularly film, has played in creating and reflecting social change. There will be a gallery displaying a variety of art inspired by the Uprising and a follow-up discussion with the artists. These events will be a co-program with the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.
*Registration is required, but does not guarantee seating. Seating is first come, first served. Early arrival is suggested.*
Friday, April 28th
11AM-5:15PM Sa-I-Gu: The Los Angeles Uprisings 25 Years Later – Witnessing the Past, Envisioning our Future
The UCLA Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion will be hosting this day of panels, Keynote Address, and a CrossCheck Live to examine this historic event from multiple perspectives including community retrospectives, contemporary analyses, and forward-thinking dialogue that contemplates the future of Los Angeles.
Location: Luskin Conference Center, 425 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095
Friday, April 28th – Sunday, April 30th Art Gallery
Featuring the work of Grace Misoe Lee, Patrick Martinez, Grace Lee, and Visual Communications
Friday 4PM-7PM
Saturday 11AM-7PM
Sunday 11AM-4PM
Location: Little Tokyo Community Place, VIDA, 249 South Los Angeles Street, Los Angeles, CA
Saturday, April 29th
2PM-4PM Screening followed by a Panel
The documentary Wet Sands: 
Voices from LA by filmmaker Dai Sil Kim-Gibson explores the aftermath of the Uprising through a Korean American perspective. It will be followed by a panel on the evolution of community organizing since the Uprisings.
Panelists:
Abel Valenzuela – Professor of Chicano/a Studies (moderator)
Dai Sil Kim-Gibson – Independent Filmmaker and Writer
Charles Burnett – Director, Producer, Writer, Editor, Actor, Photographer, and Cinematographer
Funmilola Fagbamila – Adjunct Professor of Pan-African Studies at Cal State Los Angeles, Scholar, Activist, Playwright, and Artist
Alison de la Cruz – Director of Performing Arts and Community Engagement at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center
Tani Ikeda – Filmmaker, Executive Director of imMEDIAte Justice
Robin D.G. Kelley – Professor of US History at UCLA
Ayuko Babu – Founder and Executive Director of the Pan-African Film Festival
Location: JANM, National Center for the Preservation of Democracy, Tateuchi Forum, 111 North Central Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90012
4:30PM-6PM Panel on Media and Social Change
For better or for worse, our community vision and self-image has been shaped by — and in some unfortunate instances, tainted — by the way communities of color have been portrayed in mass media and popular entertainment. In this special conversation we will assess whether progressive change can be enacted by a paradigm shift in how we are portrayed onscreen, in print, and in other forms of commercial and independently-produced communication.
Panelists:
Phil Yu – Angry Asian Man, Blogger (moderator)
Justin Chon – Independent Director, Writer, Actor
Renee Tajima-Pena – Filmmaker
Ananya Roy – Professor and Inaugural Director of the Institute of Inequality and Democracy at UCLA Luskin
Gay Theresa Johnson – Associate Professor of Chicano/a Studies
Jenny Yang – Writer, Comedian
Location: Japanese American National Museum, Aratani Central Hall, 100 North Central Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90012
8PM-10PM Screening followed by Q&A
Presented by UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, GOOK is a film set during the LA Uprising that explores families and relationships between Korean and African American communities. It will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers.
Location: Japanese American National Museum, Aratani Theatre, 100 North Central Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Sunday, April 30th
2PM-3PM Artist Talk
Panelists:
Grace Misoe Lee – Graphic Artist
Patrick Martinez – Artist
Grace Lee – Independent Producer, Director, and Writer
Location: Little Tokyo Community Place, VIDA, 249 South Los Angeles Street, Los Angeles, CA
Presented by The Luskin School of Public Affairs
In partnership with Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, Institute on Inequality and Democracy at UCLA Luskin, Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA, UCLA Asian American Studies Center, UCLA Center for EthnoCommunications, UCLA César E. Chávez Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies, UCLA Department of History, UCLA Institute of American Cultures, UCLA Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, and Visual Communications
