Office of Campus Community Relations

February 13, 2004
Davis Enterprise

Campus Community Book Project focuses on riots

By Sharon Stello/Enterprise staff writer

A book about the Los Angeles riots in 1991 following the Rodney King verdict, and the underlying issues leading up to that incident, has been selected for the third annual Campus Community Book Project in the fall.

"Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992" by Anna Deavere Smith was chosen for the project, which encourages everyone on campus and in the city of Davis to read and discuss the same book and participate in related events.

The project started in 2002 with "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down," a story about a Hmong family and their struggles with one daughter's illness and the American medical system, as told to former journalist Anne Fadiman. This book was followed by "Gandhi's Way: A Handbook of Conflict Resolution" by Mark Juergensmeyer in 2003.

Karen Roth, of Campus Community Relations, said "Twilight" was selected for its creative format - performance style - and because it will provide an opportunity to talk about issues of social justice and economic disparity in the community in response to "several very public hate crimes that have occurred."

Roth said she hopes the book will lead to discussions about what kind of community residents want and how to reach that goal.

For the book, Smith interviewed nearly 200 people about the riots and wrote "Twilight" as a script, which she has enacted as a one-woman play based on several of the characters. Smith, an actress, educator and playwright, is best known for her role as the national security adviser on the popular television show "The West Wing." She was also in a recent movie, "The Human Stain," starring Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman.

In a memo announcing the book choice to the campus, Virginia Hinshaw, provost and executive vice chancellor, and Rahim Reed, associate executive vice chancellor of campus community relations, said Smith's "work portrays the varied facets of this complex societal issue and takes a piercing look at the consequences of police brutality, community segregation and economic disparity."

Hinshaw and Reed said the book "offers us an opportunity to engage in a rich dialogue on the causes and effects on a community of unchecked prejudice and injustice. As our campus and surrounding community struggle to respond to hate crimes and other bias-related incidents, this book offers insight into the importance of weaving together a stronger, more vital connection among our campus and community residents."

Hinshaw and Rahim encourage the faculty to integrate the book into existing courses and to develop freshman seminars that focus on the book and the issues it raises. The UCD Bookstore has already offered to sell the book at a discounted rate.

"We anticipate using this book to examine many of the divergent perspectives within our community to explore viable solutions to the continuing problems of racism and other forms of bias," Hinshaw and Reed said in their memo.

Planning is under way for events tied to the book selection for fall. The author is already scheduled to appear at the Mondavi Center in November. Roth said she is hoping to work with the UCD drama department to develop performance pieces from Smith's book. A video of Smith's performance will likely be shown as well.

Roth said one goal of the project last year was to increase community involvement.

"I feel really pleased with the success of the book project," Roth said. "We were very pleased with the way the community became involved."

Roth said she has received numerous e-mail messages from community members describing how the last book project has changed their lives - parents changing the way they interact with their children and students taking a different approach to dealing with roommates after reading, discussing and attending events about "Gandhi's Way."

"They really used it as a way of integrating what Gandhi was talking about into their lives," said Roth, adding that she hopes the latest book selection will have the same effect.

Roth said community members are needed to help plan events for the fall project. To become involved, call Roth at 752-2071 or send an e-mail to kmroth@ucdavis.edu.

- Reach Sharon Stello at sstello@davisenterprise.net