On a peaceful Monday night, hundreds gathered at Cal State Los Angeles for the premiere of a new movie about the late Mayor Tom Bradley, honoring his barrier-breaking past. But the present hung over the event like a shroud.
The movie was suffused with racial strife, marked by footage of the Watts riots, which began 50 years ago Tuesday, and the 1992 South Los Angeles firestorm that occurred during the waning months of Bradley’s epic 20-year tenure. Both were sparked by conflict between law enforcement and African-American males.
By eerie coincidence, the theater preview took place as violence threatened a suburb of St.