Reconstructing Rodney King

I was very moved as I listened live to Rodney King saying, "Can't we all get along?" to out-of-control rioters all over the United States back in 1992.

And I was really surprised to hear radio commentators come on immediately thereafter and talk about how inarticulate he was. Fortunately for our country, a lot of people out there understood brother Rodney perfectly well, and he deserves a lot more credit for saying what he did in that spontaneous moment.

This was originally a sound essay that aired on Pacifica Radio. I made it into a Flash video in 2006 and posted it on YouTube. It has inspired some very thoughtful and some very horrifying responses.