People are People

Chase Carey, Deputy Chairman, President and Chief Operating Officer, News Corp, at the Milken Global Conference

It's only 11.7 miles from the intersection of Florence and Normandie to the Beverly Hilton Hotel, but in many aspects it seems like a million miles. Last Sunday, my assignment was to cover the 20th anniversary of the LA Riots on the corner where Reginald Denny was nearly beaten to death at the start of the riots, a lonely and nearly forgotten place, and home to many on the lowest end of the 99%. The following morning I found myself at the Beverly Hilton Hotel covering the 1%, it was an economic forum with billionaires and some of the most powerful elite in the business and entertainment industry. 

Billionaire LA Businessman and Philanthropist Eli Broad

Florence and Normandie, April 29, 2012

While the differences were obvious and many, something that became apparent to me was this, when you take away the titles and super bling cars etc., it often boils down to this: people are people. There were some salt of the earth, naturally kindhearted and genuinely good folks at both locations. Conversely, there was major attitude and a stay away-from-me vibe by some as well. The socio-economic divide was never more apparent to me than my experiences this week, but I was struck about how good people can be at both venues. It makes me really appreciate the deeper meaning of a quote my grade school classmate Rodney King famously uttered about 20 years ago, "People, I just want to say, you know, can we all just get along?"

Florence and Normandie, April 29, 2012