Gathering Of Heroes A: REFLECTIONS ON RAGE AND RESPONSIBILITY [Hardcover]

Gregalan Williams WILLIAMS (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 30, 2005

On April 29, 1992, Baywatch actor Alan-Williams walked into the midst of the South Los Angeles riot and rescued a nearly lifeless Japanese motorist amidst a shower of verbal abuse and debris. An African American, Alan-Williams reflects on the obligation we bear when confronted with the mindless face of violence. Illus.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Alan-Williams is an African American TV actor, who, at the height of the Los Angeles riots nearly two years ago, deliberately set out for the epicenter of the violence, determined to try to restrain his fellow blacks' anger and, if necessary, to save victims of it. As he did so, he was mindful of the many violences done to him as a young black man growing up in largely white Iowa--and of a time, in the Marine Corps, when he had willingly participated in the beating of a fellow recruit that led to the man's suicide attempt. At the heart of the book is a searing eyewitness account of the frightful brutality and lawlessness of that day in Los Angeles. Alan-Williams saved two people: a young light-skinned black whose attackers, whom Alan-Williams drove off, mistook for white, and a terribly injured Japanese man he rescued from his smashed car. Alan-Williams's description of the actions and emotions of the occasion is gripping; his analysis of his own motives and of the senseless brutality of the attackers lacks any trace of the maudlin or the vengeful. Alan-Williams thinks clearly, standing outside the vagaries of racial politics as a man of hard-won conscience--though he ruefully admits that his own anger and resentment sometimes betray him. His small but intense book is inspirational in the best sense of that much-abused word. Photos not seen by PW .
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

The media called them Good Samaritans, those brave souls who rescued drivers trapped at the Florence and Normandie intersection- -ground zero of the '92 L.A. riots. Alan-Williams, an African- American actor, was one of them. Here, his short but impassioned report dovetails his role at the intersection with reflections on black rage, mob violence, individual responsibility, and the dangers of stereotyping. Alan-Williams hears the Rodney King beating verdict on his car radio. After his aerobics class, he drives purposefully to the already notorious intersection, his large hope being to save the victims from their aggressors and the aggressors from themselves. The actor was no saint. He had been badly bruised by racism during his Iowa childhood and understood the self-destructive rage that ensues, but he had also--as an aspiring Marine eager to show he was ``one of the fellas''--participated in a despicable group attack on a fellow-recruit. At the intersection, he plunges into the mob to rescue an Asian truck-driver, beaten to a pulp. He drags him away, drawing for support on the ``gathering of heroes'' inside his head, those who had taught him compassion (like the Mayan woman in Mexico caring for her disfigured child) and those who had taught him steadfastness (his Marine drill instructors). Perception is everything. Where Alan-Williams sees in the driver his battered childhood self, a furious teenager sees a justly punished ``Korean motherfucker.'' (The victim is, in fact, Japanese-American.) Minutes later, an LAPD squad car approaches the blood-soaked Samaritan and his charge, sees human refuse, and speeds away. But there is a happy ending. Overcoming his prejudice, Alan-Williams entrusts Takao Hirata to a ``brother'' wearing a shoulder-length ``doo'' rag, who delivers him safely to the hospital. A moving illumination of the meaning of brotherhood. It deserves to sell and sell and sell. (Eleven photographs--not seen) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: Academy Chicago Publishers; 2nd edition (August 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0897334043
• ISBN-13: 978-0897334044
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,617,450 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A look at the Rodney King Riots from the streets, August 15, 2001

By 

JOE-JOE BOOKS "JOE BOOKS" (CALIFORNIA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gathering Of Heroes A: REFLECTIONS ON RAGE AND RESPONSIBILITY (Hardcover)

I read this book a few years ago after hearing radio personality Dennis Prager recommend it. It is a very worthwhile read. Williams chronicles his upbringing in the midwest and how it differed from most of his friends (piano practice while the others played in the street). He also gives an intimate look at how valuable that upbringing was to him as an adult (childhood friends in prison while he was trying to make it in the entertainment field). This introduction gives a good background for the frustration and shock at what followed the Rodney King verdict in 1992 when the news hit the streets. These emotions prompted Williams to run out of him home (in the area of the riots) in an effort to try to do something positive in the middle of the chaos. This sets up the story of how Williams rescued a Japanese man from attackers during the riots, and the publicity the act inspired. Although this act was only a minor news story in the larger story of the riots, it is just as large a human story. It is very thought provoking and makes for an interesting and quick read. I would recommend it to anyone that wants a first person look at the riots. My wife used it as one of many sources for a college term paper on the riots.