L.A. Riots: Recollecting My Trauma (Patch Blog)

I was always an activist, starting as an anti-vietnam war protester. Of course I was going to protest the beating of Rodney King. I had lived in Echo Park since 1971, mainly because it had a long history of activism. I decided to participate in the permitted demonstration called to protest the beating of Rodney King by the LAPD.

My 14yr old daughter had a concurrent commitment in Pasadena, so I took her there with the understanding that I would pick her up at a specific location after the demonstration. NO CELL PHONES then...we just had to meet up.

Hundreds of us gathered downtwon to hear speakers and then march to police headquarters. Not long after the demonstration began, police rounded us up and arrested us even tho we were there legally. I was put on a bus with other women and taken to a jail facility out in the Valley.

I was not allowed even one phone call and was terribly worried about Casey, standing on a street corner waiting for me to pick her up. Luckily, she figured out thtat something was wrong and went home with a friend. I was finally released around midnight that night.

A couple of years later I received a $700 settlement from the City of LA for illegal arrest and harassment. This was procured by a class action suit initiated by the ACLU against the actions of the LAPD and the City of LA during that demonstration. Needless to say, my arrest that day further cemented my attitudes against the government. I continue to be a social and political activist!