Mark Craig, one of the faces of the riots following officers\u2019 acquittals in the Rodney King beating, understands the anger he is seeing after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police c\u2026<\/b>
\nHe watched the car fires, the store-front windows being smashed and the looting on television with his granddaughter in his arms. He saw the peaceful protesters trying to make a point about police violence and the angry mobs bent on destruction.
\u201cPeople are willing to fight,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s part of the struggle. Positive things come from rioting. These people would rather die than be oppressed. That\u2019s how I felt.\u201d
Mark Craig, now 51, was one of the iconic participants in the 1992 uprising after the acquittal of the police officers who were charged in the beating of Rodney King. Craig, wearing a T-shirt with a large peace symbol, was photographed in front of angry flames when he was 23 years old. That picture appeared on the cover of Newsweek magazine and in countless publications around the world.
Craig, who works as a tour guide in Los Angeles and often takes people past murals where his own image is depicted, did not go out to protest this weekend. Protesting, rioting and looting, he said, are young people\u2019s tactics.
And they work, he said.
\u201cIt\u2019s all about symbolism,\u201d Craig said. \u201cKap (former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick) took a knee. I saw the police headquarters in Minnesota burning. I saw people surrounding the White House. That symbolism could change this country\u2019s hand again.\u201d
As new unrest sparked, first in Minnesota and eventually Southern California, Craig said he spent the weekend \u201cglued to his television set.\u201d He was watching his 5-month-old granddaughter Khaliyah.
\u201cI\u2019m glad my granddaughter was here,\u201d he said. \u201cIt helped me stay at home.\u201d
He is thoughtful about and well-versed in the history of civic unrest. Sunday and Monday, he pointed out, marked the 99th anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, in which white mobs destroyed a predominantly African American neighborhood, injured at least 800 and left at least 36 \u2013 historians estimate possibly 300 \u2013 dead.
He said the civil rights movement had an early spark with the lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till and the acquittal of the men accused of killing him.
He said he has been inspired recently by watching YouTube videos of Malcolm X speeches.
\u201cThe chickens,\u201d he said, quoting Malcolm X after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, \u201care coming home to roost.\u201d
In 1992, Craig went to Parker Center in downtown Los Angeles because he wanted to confront police. He was filled with anger. Twenty-eight years later, he understands why people are in the streets today.
\u201cThere has been tremendous progress, but systematic racism has always been there,\u201d Craig said. \u201cWith the police, nothing has changed. Watching this on television now, I\u2019m more proud of what I did.\u201d
He\u2019s proud, he said, that he was part of the struggle. Last week, as he watched the televised images of George Floyd\u2019s death, Craig felt the pangs of civil disobedience inside him, but this time he didn\u2019t act. He laughed when he said he\u2019s in the house \u201cquarantined from the violence.\u201d
\u201cIt was very painful to see any human being murdered on national television at the hands of law enforcement,\u201d he said. \u201cWith Rodney King, they were able to defend that. This one has no defense. We all look through our own prism, but this was murder.\u201d
He said the protesters now are more savvy than he was in 1992. Several of the protests he was watching on television were taking place in neighborhoods that didn\u2019t get destroyed in 1992.
\u201cWhen I saw them on Third and Fairfax with all those shops, I knew this time they weren\u2019t going to destroy African American neighborhoods.\u201d
He said he thinks all this community anger will lead to more voting in November.
\u201cI hope all these young people have that energy when it comes time to vote,\u201d he said. \u201cHope is in the African American spirit. The change has to come from the ballot box.\u201d
The fact that the protests are taking place only six months from November is a positive.
\u201cIt\u2019s good it will be fresh on everyone\u2019s mind,\u201d Craig said.
When he confronted police in 1992, the world was a different place, he said.
\u201cAfrican American women are some of the most educated people in the country,\u201d he said. \u201cAfrican American governors have power. That change has come from the ballot box.\u201d
He also issued a word of warning.
\u201cWhat if this is just a prequel?\u201d he asked.
He said the upcoming trial of at least one of the officers in Minnesota could be an even more powerful flashpoint.
\u201cIf they were to get off, there will be major violence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n