YWCA: National day of commitment to end racism, April 29

On Thursday, April 29, YWCA Missoula will join YWCAs across the county in observing Day of Commitment to End Racism, an annual acknowledgement of the lingering presence of racism in the United States and an opportunity to re-commit to working to end racism. Day of Commitment began as a commemoration of the 1991 Rodney King beating and riots that followed in racially-charged violence that destroyed many communities and lives in South-Central Los Angeles. In honor of Day of Commitment, YWCA Missoula will host a public screening of Anna Deavere Smith’s 90-minute documentary film “Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992” at 5:30 p.m. The film retells the story of the L.A. riots using the actual, un-edited words of people who experienced the events of April 1992, including relatives of Rodney King, the chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, and jurors who delivered the verdict that provoked the riots. The film is powerful, absorbing, and informative.