University of California, Los Angeles / Stanford University
Professor of History at the University of California, Los Angeles and a fellow at Stanford Universitiy's Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences; author of The Contested Murder of Latasha Harlins: Justice, Gender and the Origins of the LA Riots
Georgetown University offers reconciliation for slave past Georgetown University has come clean about its history with the slave trade . Will other schools step up and do more? Georgetown University has not just documented its unsavory past, it's offering assistance to the descendants of slaves it sold to Southern plantations. Is that the same as "reparations?" What about other institutions involved in the trade?
Is 'Warfare' a Thing of the Past at the LAPD? Video of police misconduct wasn’t as common 25 years ago as it is today. The spectacle of LAPD officers beating Rodney King was a wake-up call, but didn’t persuade a jury in Simi Valley. When the cops received not-guilty verdicts, the city exploded. We hear from veteran officers who say they’ve changed. What about their tactics? Have they gained the trust of marginalized communities and people of color?
Is Los Angeles Still a 'City of Quartz?' In 1990, Mike Davis wrote City of Quartz, insisting that Los Angeles was not a west coast utopia, but a dystopia instead. Two years later, the Rodney King riots seemed to make him a prophet. His book is still used as a text for understanding LA history, even though Davis failed to predict the city's massive immigration. What did he tell us about economic inequality, race politics, the role of developers and architects — and community relations with the LAPD?
Slavery and California UCLA is in possession of the first edition print of Solomon Northup’s 1853 memoir that describes how he was kidnapped and sold into slavery. The book, of course, is the basis for this year’s Oscar-winning best picture, 12 Years a Slave . The renewed interest in Northup’s work prompted UCLA's Brenda Stevenson to revisit California’s history of slavery, something most Californians know little about.
The First Prison Memoir of Black Man Discovered Historians believe they've authenticated the earliest recovered memoir written in prison by a black American. It dates to 1858 — before the Civil War and emancipation. The Life and Adventures of a Haunted Convict , or the Inmate of a Gloomy Prison, has been a mystery since it was discovered by a rare books dealer in upstate New York. Now it's authenticated under the name of Bob Reed, believed to have been born a free man who learned to read and write in reform school. Brenda Stevenson is a history professor at UCLA, author of The Contested Murder of Latasha Harlins : Justice, Gender and the Origins of the LA Riots, discusses its historical significance.
Has Hollywood Come to Grips with American Slavery? Last year, Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained graphically depicted the brutality of American slavery, but almost in comic book form. Now comes, 12 Years a Slave , based on the autobiography of a free black man who was tricked into servitude. Has Hollywood caught up with history? Brenda Stevenson, Professor of History at UCLA and author of The Contested Murder of Latasha Harlins , is a student of family life of slaves in the South. Salamishah Tillet, Associate Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania, is author of Sites of Slavery .
A New Look at the Origins of the LA Riots The devastating Los Angeles riots of 1992 have been blamed on the white jury that acquitted LAPD officers of abusing a black man named Rodney King. But a new book argues that the stage was set by another court case the year before, when a female Korean grocery store was given probation by a woman judge in the shooting death of a 15-year-old black girl. The book is The Contested Murder of Latasha Harlins by UCLA history professor Brenda Stevenson.
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
President Trump: US to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord Trump says he was elected to serve Pittsburgh, not Paris.
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.