Rising From the Ashes

Summary

Paula Yoo’s latest is a compelling, nuanced account of Los Angeles’s 1992 uprising and its impact on its Koreanand Black American communities.On April 29, 1992, following the acquittal of four police officers charged with the beating and arrest of RodneyKing and the earlier killing of teenager Latasha Harlins, the city of Los Angeles erupted in violence. Manyof these events were centered on the city’s Koreatown, where tensions between the Black and KoreanAmerican communities had simmered for years, fueled by economic challenges and redlining and enflamedby sensationalized and racist media. Based on more than 100 personal interviews, Rising from the Ashesfollows these events through the eyes and experiences of the families of King, Harlins, shooting victim EdwardJae Song Lee, and dozens of business owners, journalists, police officers, firefighters, activists, and othercommunity members. Deeply researched and compulsively readable, this is a vivid, propulsive, and movingstory of a pivotal moment in recent American history that continues to resonate today.