The Smithian

[It’s the] 21st anniversary of the uprising in L.A…after the Rodney King trial verdict…“Sa-I-Gu,” Korean for April 29, opens a window on Korean American women in Los Angeles whose stores—and lives—were devastated during in the aftermath.

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This month marks the 20th anniversary of the LA riots set off by the acquittals of city cops who beat King after a traffic stop. He also weighs in on one aspect of the Trayvon case…”The horrifying sound of a young black male screaming for his life on a 911 call reminded me of my horrifying scream on a videotape 20 years ago,” King says. “It’s a death scream.”

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art: artist’s drawing of King as he testified in the 1991 federal trial.

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama broke bread with a group of small-dollar donors to his re-election campaign…Obama’s campaign staged its third “Dinner with Barack” event at Boundary Road, a restaurant along Washington’s H Street, a once riot-scarred corridor that has undergone a massive redevelopment.

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“Uprising: Hip Hop and the L.A. Riots” is scheduled to premiere in April 2012. The…documentary will be told from the perspective of rappers, musicians, and victims who lived through the…L.A. Riots in April of 1992. Over the four days….53 people died and 12000+ were arrested. The doc will feature never-before-heard stories from artists who were effected by and/or participated in the riots, including Too Short, Big Boi, Nas, KRS-One, DJ Yella, and…others.

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On this day in 1992, the verdict of the LAPD/Rodney King trial was announced in Simi Valley, CA.

The riot that began that afternoon became one of the nation’s bloodiest. It ended three days later with 55 people dead, more than 2,300 injured and 1,100 buildings destroyed.