Excerpt from my almost completed book "It was April 29th, 1992 I was standing on the southeast corner of Florence Avenue and Normandie Blvd near the gas station when a large red truck facing westbound pulled into the intersection and stopped. The white gentlemen operating the 18 wheeler was apparently unaware that the location was now a flash point for a race riot. The rig made its way into the intersection and was struck several times with bottles and bricks. The Truck driver stopped the vehicle in the intersection. Soon thereafter a pedestrian mounted the truck wherein he and the truck driver exchanged words and was soon thereafter forcibly removed from his truck. The man was beaten severely to the point that it was difficult to look at the violence being perpetrated upon him. He was hit with what seemed to be a large rock or brick while he was down. The truck driver lay stretched out bloodied broken and bleeding from his head. Instead of mashing the gas pedal and escaping the turmoil, he stopped his truck which could have easily taken him and his load through the intersection unharmed. I suppose the white truck driver was angered that his truck had been pelted and that is why he stopped in the intersection. I suppose this white truck driver had the intention of confronting the person or persons who struck the vehicle he was operating. I watched as the helicopters carrying police officers and news crews hovered overhead helpless to come to the man’s aid or intervene on his behalf. I was angry at the merciless beating that Rodney King suffered at the hands of the four white Los Angeles Police officers. I was angry about the not guilty verdict. However, I was not so angry that I would resort to committing acts of violence upon innocent people. The circumstances of my life including my personal history, my environment, and socialization had skewed my sense of what was the justified use of violence. I learned that violent retribution for bad unjust behavior as a result of the beatings I received at the hands of my father. It was a simple lesson to comprehend. If your actions warranted punishment, punishment was rendered in the form of violence. These perceptions lead to my violent behavior in my later years. On those occasions when I had been wronged I felt justified in seeking retribution against those who had harmed me by punishing them with violence. No amount of education and training could override those sensibilities instilled in me since I was a young child. Like many of the hardened gang members who participated in the cease fire I learned that violence gives rise to more violence. Witnessing the violence perpetrated on those innocent victims there on the corner of Normandie Avenue and Florence Blvd caused me to lose my appetite for violence."
Posted on: Thu, 03 Oct 2013 19:52:49 +0000
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