Grievers At Rodney King Memorial: ‘The Nation Owes Him’

Grievers At Rodney King Memorial: ‘The Nation Owes Him’


I saw a peaceful gentle man the first time I  saw him, as he was leaving the hospital in a wheelchair, soft-spoken and unassuming, uninterested in lawsuits -- not the raging beast malcontent malingerer the reports had suggested he was: it was an eye- and mind-opener.
These last few years I was grateful for the opportunity to see the real man (via tv, on Celebrity Rehab) and to love him more -- still the soft-spoken, unassuming, gentle man upon whose shoulders rested the fragile relationships of race/culture, of authority vs. the individual, bearing the burden of the underlying resentments that reached critical mass, and L.A. exploded as it never had before, from Florence & Normandy to Beverly Hills, unimaginable scenes of groups run wild, palm trees burnt, the police chief letting it burn, reluctant to interfere.  A man who never wanted the spotlight on him was suddenly the public spokesperson for reason -- as he proved to be every time he spoke his piece/peace -- who most recently inspired and saddened us with the grace and humility he brought to all with whom he came in contact -- publicly once again, in rehab.  

“Some are born great; others have greatness thrust upon them.”

I am sorry to see the gentle giant pass from our lives, as he gave more than his all in bearing a greater burden than seemed humanly possible, as another individual who opened the closed door on the institutionalized abuses of power that we close the door on not out of a lack of concern but out of disbelief, an inability to comprehend or verbalize that which is before us because it does not mesh with the belief system we learn as citizens.  Trying to reconcile these two things will drive a person mad.  Remember who Rodney King really was and remember the viciousness of the beating he received while on the ground face down, covering his head with his hands and trying to crawl away from the blows.  

Always look and learn for yourself: read between the lines, use your eyes and senses, not what others tell you, in order to know a person, a situation, and their truths. Remember and hold fast Rodney’s gentle grace under a few individuals’ abuse of power that night and remember that he maintained that grace constantly, in the face of hardship and in spite of efforts to portray him as anything but.
Honor his memory by remembering to do that and remembering the pain in his voice and the spirit in which he uttered the words, “Can’t we all just get along?”  It’s not the joke some people have made of it; it’s the bottom line.

Rest in peace, Rodney.  I hope it’s good: you earned it.  23 August 2012