Activity #9

Bianca Klotsman
Activity 9- Book review

While looking at the list of books of books we could read for this assignment, I instantly chose Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A. by Luis J. Rodriguez because I’ve heard amazing reviews about the author. Rodriguez is the son of Mexican immigrants who began writing in his early teens and has won national recognition as a poet, journalist, fiction writer, children's book writer, and critic. He is currently working as a peacemaker among gangs on a national and international level. He has helped create Tia Chucha's Café & Centro Cultural, a multiarts, multimedia cultural center in the Northeast San Fernando Valley and im sure will continue to do great things to benefit his passion against gangs after what he has been through.
Rodriguez tells the story of how he and his older brother one day entered a white neighborhood and were immediately assaulted. Racist comments such as "What do we got here? Spics to order - maybe with some beans?" were said by the local white kids. Overwhelmed by prejudice and poverty, Rodriguez and his friends drifted into gangs for protection and to gain self-respect. While writing about his many encounters with other gangs and the police, he describes the experiences as harder to defy the expectation of a “criminal” than just accept it and fall into the trappings. The outlaw life rapidly took its toll, and by the time Rodriguez turned eighteen, he had seen friends die right in front of his eyes. One day, he stumbled onto some radical literature in the library, which opened his eyes. An administrator at a local youth center took Rodriguez under his wing and brought him to a radical study group, where his political ideas took shape and began to organize protests against abuses at school. He also started to express his talents in dancing, writing, and painting. All of these productive activities helped Rodriguez to move on. Rodriguez’s life is the perfect example of how our society leaves minorities and the poor no alternatives leading normal people to join gangs. The problem Rodriguez makes clear is not with the gangs but with the society that creates gangs. I really enjoyed reading this book because it was heartbreaking especially knowing that it is a true story, with a purpose.