All Involved

The 1992 Los Angeles riot is a defining moment of the city going into the twenty-first century. Crime, violence, and racism have all been hallmarks of the city that are commonly displayed in films taking place in Los Angeles. The LAPD is featured in countless movies as the antagonizing racist caricature that instigated the riots by beating Rodney King. Various action and crime films have been set in Los Angeles to capitalize on the brutal nature of the city. The LA Riots of 1992 were a culmination of the negative aspects of the city coming together in an orgy of needless crime and bloodshed. It affected nearly every corner of the city, an impressive feat considering the scope of Los Angeles. Whites, blacks, Hispanics and Koreans all contributed to and suffered in the riots. Ryan Gattis sews these various groups together in a compelling point of view retelling of life in the riots by offering various charts all linked by the destruction of their city.

    Tying 17 storylines together in one book seems like a difficult feat at first, but the Los Angeles riots serve as the perfect backdrop to link all those involved. The violence of the riots allowed the gangbangers and crooks of Los Angeles to emerge from their dark corners and wreak havoc on the city while authority was left helpless to stop them. The riots were a criminal’s playground which set the stage for Ernesto, the first character of the story to be introduced, to be murdered via gang violence. This leads his sister to seek vengeance while the anarchy of the riots keeps her protected from the law. The violence that comes with the riots incite others like Creeper to go on crime sprees with little resistance. Anthony, the fire truck driver, has to navigate the dangerous streets to get his partner to the hospital after a cinderblock crushed his head. The hospital is where Gloria, Anthony’s love interest works. Gloria is then linked to Ernesto as he was her first kiss and she called the police to remove his rotting corpse from an alleyway. The dreadful violence of the riots link all the characters involved as some take advantage and revel in the destruction while others try to fight it and fix it. Ernesto’s murder links many of the characters while others witness similar acts of violence. Just like the real riots, everyone was brought together for good and evil by the rioting. Everyone in Los Angeles was involved, just like the 17 points of views in the book.

    Anthony the firefighter is one character with an interesting perspective on the riots. The riots knew to know justice. Stores, homes and everything in between was burnt to the ground. Firefighters had a lot on their hands. Anthony is a firetruck driver facing the great perils of the riots when we first encounter him. Fire trucks have been a popular target for attacks during the riots. Anthony chalks this up to either violence against whites at all costs or just plain anarchy. It was a bad time to be a firefighter as Anthony’s fellow firefighter Guiterrez is attacked by a black gangbanger describe as a refrigerator in size. Now it’s a race to the hospital to save the man that wasn’t even supposed to come into work. Anthony blames the three racist cops and the jury that acquitted them for his friend’s turmoil and the destruction of the city. He isn’t wrong for this assumption. Anthony views the city and the events at face value without reading too deep into things. He is disgusted by black rioters and antagonizes them in his description of the city. He says the violence is over some racial inequality, but he knows that their blind rage and destruction is far from just a political or social movement. Anthony is enraged by the violence and murder around him. He wants vengeance for his friend. He doesn’t even want to stop to help others because he doesn’t know if it’s just a setup for another attack. He doesn’t trust the people that he became a firefighter to protect.

    Anthony is one of the only white voices expressed in All Involved. Anthony is far from a racist. As a Croatian Catholic, Anthony doesn’t have much skin in the game in terms of race relations in the U.S. as it’s usually white Anglo Saxon protestants that cause the most problems. Anthony is a man of strong wills and ethics. He condemns the cops for beating Rodney King and is disappointed with how the black mayor handled the situation. Anthony looks at the riots from a very even-keeled perspective. He’s not affiliated with any gangs and isn’t out trying to take advantage of the situation. Like Gloria, he’s just trying to do his job. His work has to lead him to develop prejudices that come to light in the events of his story. He doesn’t want to help those that don’t deserve it, and he’ll lose his composure at the sight of injustice and violence on people he cares about. The perfect representation for the few brave men and women trying to keep the city together with relatable human flaws.