An international symbol of racial violence and ongoing social injustice, the brutal police beating of Rodney King on March 3, 1991, and the subsequent acquittal of all officers involved, were the trigger events that led to the Los Angeles uprisings in April 1992.

Born in Sacramento, California, in 1965, the second of five children, the life of Rodney Glen King prior to the beating was, in many ways, typical of many African-American men. When his family moved to South Pasadena, King's father, who worked in maintenance and construction, turned more and more frequently to alcohol. Left back a grade in high school, and relegated to special education classes, King, who was only functionally literate, dropped out of school altogether in 1984. He fathered two children with two different women early on, but was unable to provide for his family with the occasional construction jobs that he was able to...