Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992

Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992

by

Anna Deavere Smith

Mike Davis is an LA-based writer, urban critic, and historian. In Davis’s interview, he reflects on the happier, freer childhood he experienced growing up in California in the 1960s. He suggests that in contrast, today’s young people have fewer job opportunities and fewer freedoms, compelling them to turn to violence and gang membership to find the sense of community and belonging they crave. Davis also laments the shortcomings of the civil rights movement, which failed to give Black kids the same carefree childhood he and his privileged white friends enjoyed in the 1960s.
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Mike Davis Character Timeline in Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992

The timeline below shows where the character Mike Davis appears in Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Surfer’s Desert
Police Brutality, Corruption, and Systemic Racism  Theme Icon
Justice, Perspective, and Ambiguity  Theme Icon
Individuals vs. Institutions Theme Icon
Action vs. Symbolic Gesture  Theme Icon
Smith interviews Mike Davis, an LA-based writer and urban critic of Irish descent, at a restaurant in the Biltmore... (full context)
Police Brutality, Corruption, and Systemic Racism  Theme Icon
Justice, Perspective, and Ambiguity  Theme Icon
Individuals vs. Institutions Theme Icon
And yet, nobody is publicly decrying the violence as an emergency. Davis observes how “this city is at war with / its own children,” who it fails... (full context)
Police Brutality, Corruption, and Systemic Racism  Theme Icon
Justice, Perspective, and Ambiguity  Theme Icon
Individuals vs. Institutions Theme Icon
Davis notes how now, even white kids are losing these privileges, since the only permitted activity... (full context)