John Ridley: The LA riots 'did not start with Rodney King'

— -- When we sat down to talk on an April afternoon, director John Ridley was already several interviews into his day.

There’s a lot of interest in him and his latest work, “Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992,” a documentary examining the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the Los Angeles riots, which is in theaters and aired on ABC.

Ridley has already spent an inordinate amount of time discussing his work. Yet he is earnest and engaged throughout our 30 minutes together. Willingly sharing stories about his parents and his childhood in Wisconsin. Carefully considering and weighing the questions around institutional racism and empathetic storytelling, before answering in measured thoughtfulness.

“The Rodney King uprising, as we say in the story -- it did not start with Rodney King. It was not one night. It was not one assault. It was not just one verdict,” says Ridley. “People did try to engage with the system. People did try to let those in authority know that there were problems.”

Unpacking and examining such societal problems has become a hallmark of Ridley's recent work.

From an early career in stand-up comedy, to writing for sitcoms like “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” and “Martin,” Ridley’s work has evolved over the years to critically-acclaimed series like “American Crime,” now in its third season on ABC, and his Showtime miniseries, “Guerrilla.” The year 2014 brought him his first Academy Award for his adapted screenplay, “12 Years a Slave.” One of his goals in storytelling, he says, is to reflect the audience he serves.

Ridley concedes that as an African American man in the entertainment industry, he couldn’t ignore the challenges that have existed and persist today for people of color, even if he hasn’t let them stand in his way.

“Certainly I was aware very early on that no matter [what] stories I wanted to tell, and a lot of them were more pure entertainment,” says Ridley, “there were going to be barriers ... I was not going to have the opportunities that other individuals had.

"But at the same time -- and a lot of this is really about the way that I was raised and my parents, things that they instilled in me -- it didn’t matter. You know, I never thought that I would not be able to accomplish the things that I wanted to accomplish.”

As we talked about “Let It Fall,” the writer-director admitted his disappointment that the four Los Angeles police officers charged and acquitted in the Rodney King beating refused to participate in his documentary.

But that didn’t prevent him from attempting to present the story in full, both in the scope of its chronology and the range of the voices represented.

“I think what has hit people is they start to understand and realize, you know, in all kinds of cities, in all kinds of spaces, that person that I’m sitting next to on the subway or I cross on the street, that may be the least of our interactions, it may be the most of our interactions, but we do have a connection,” Ridley says.

“And their story, their narrative, is as valid as my story, my narrative, my issues. And we’ve truly got to start looking at people as people,” he says.

Check out the full conversation on this week’s episode of "Uncomfortable."

Download and subscribe to the "Uncomfortable" podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, Stitcher, and ABC News podcasts.

Ridley was interviewed as part of a series called 'Uncomfortable," hosted by Amna Nawaz, that offers in-depth honest conversations with influential figures about issues dividing America.