New documentary looks at LA riots and hip hop

SXSW just in time for the 20th anniversary of the L.A. riots. “Uprising: Hip Hop & The LA Riots” (narrated by Snoop Dogg) talks to rappers, rioters, victims and police who remember the uprising. “Rebellions, revolutions, sacrifices have to be made… there’s always going to be bloodshed,” says one subject. According to the film’s synopsis: “Uprising” documents how hip hop forecasted — and some say ignited — the worst civil unrest of the 20th century. (Watch the trailer below)Indiewire’s website took issue with the idea that hip hop was behind the unrest, writing: “Hip Hop wasn’t the catalyst. INJUSTICE was the catalyst.”

The comments on the film’s YouTube page also reveal just how conflicted we still are:

So the people felt that they were wronged by the government. . . So their response was to steal from their neighbors.

Another commenter writes:

People are watching everything about wrongs in society. And they had reached a boiling point. When you have the govt whoop someone’s ass like a dog on TV and then jury say nothing is wrong the city will explode.

What do you think? What do you remember about the riots? How did they impact you? Watch the trailer and help us continue the conversation.