Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992

Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992

by

Anna Deavere Smith

The LA Four was the moniker given to the four Black men (Damian Monroe Williams, Henry Keith Watson, Antoine Eugene Miller, and Gary Anthony Williams) involved in the beating of Reginald Denny on April 29, 1992, the first day of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

LA Four Quotes in Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992

The Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 quotes below are all either spoken by LA Four or refer to LA Four. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Police Brutality, Corruption, and Systemic Racism  Theme Icon
).
Bubble Gum Machine Man Quotes

This Reginald Denny thing is a joke.
It’s joke.
That’s just a delusion to the real
problem.

Related Characters: Allen Cooper “Big Al” (speaker), Rodney King, Reginald Denny
Related Symbols: Violence
Page Number: 102
Explanation and Analysis:
Trophies Quotes

Because Denny is white,
that’s the bottom line.
If Denny was Latino,
Indian, or black,
they wouldn’t give a damn
they would not give a damn.

Related Characters: Paul Parker (speaker), Rodney King, Reginald Denny
Related Symbols: Violence
Page Number: 172
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 LitChart as a printable PDF.
Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 PDF

LA Four Term Timeline in Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992

The timeline below shows where the term LA Four appears in Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Bubble Gum Machine Man
Police Brutality, Corruption, and Systemic Racism  Theme Icon
Healing, Progress, and Collective Consciousness  Theme Icon
Justice, Perspective, and Ambiguity  Theme Icon
...for the national truce movement. Cooper talks about the crimes of assault and battery the LA Four were accused of committing. He asks the LA Four’s accusers a series of questions: “What... (full context)
Trophies
Police Brutality, Corruption, and Systemic Racism  Theme Icon
Individuals vs. Institutions Theme Icon
Action vs. Symbolic Gesture  Theme Icon
Smith interviews Paul Parker, Chairperson for Free the LA Four Plus Defense Committee. It’s October 1993. Smith and Parker, who is dressed smartly, sit in... (full context)
Police Brutality, Corruption, and Systemic Racism  Theme Icon
Justice, Perspective, and Ambiguity  Theme Icon
Individuals vs. Institutions Theme Icon
...years) and took up advocacy full time. He was elected chairperson of the Free the LA Four Plus Defense Committee and has worked there ever since. Parker argues that the LA Four... (full context)
Police Brutality, Corruption, and Systemic Racism  Theme Icon
Justice, Perspective, and Ambiguity  Theme Icon
Individuals vs. Institutions Theme Icon
...riots would wish him dead. Meanwhile, the state did everything they could to convict the LA Four . (full context)