Luis J. Rodriguez

This award-winning and bestselling classic memoir about a young Chicano gang member is now updated with a new Introduction and reading group guide.

La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A.

Always Running

Shares the author's story of his brushes with the law and addictions to heroin and alcohol, tracing his complicated journey toward a recovery marked by a run for political office and his rise to an internationally respected gang interventionist.

An Odyssey Through Love, Addiction, Revolutions, and Healing

It Calls You Back

A los doce, el autor era veterano de la guerra entre pandillas del este de Los Ángeles. Atraído por una cultura aparentemente insuperable, fue testigo de un sinfín de balaceras, golpizas y arrestos y, más tarde, presenció como las drogas, los asesinatos, los suicidios y una delincuencia callejera cobraban la vida de amigos y familiares. Encontró la manera de dejar atrás la vida del barrio a través de la educación y el poder de las palabras. Una vez alcanzado el éxito como poeta; nuestro autor llega a pensar que las calles ya no lo perseguirían, pero entonces su hijo ingresó en una pandilla. Luchó por su hijo mediante el relato de su historia (este libro); crónica que se adentra en las motivaciones de la vida de pandillas y nos advierte de la muerte y la destrucción que, tarde o temprano, se lleva la vida de sus participantes.

El Testimonio de un Pandillero en Los Angeles

La Vida Loca (Always Running)

Foreword by Martín Espada This chapbook collection offers new poems from the prolific career of a community leader, activist, and healer. Luis J. Rodríguez’s work asks profound questions of us as readers and fellow humans, such as, "If society cooperates, can we nurture the full / and healthy development of everyone?" In his introductory remarks, Martín Espada describes the poet as a man engaged in people and places: "Luis Rodríguez is a poet of many tongues, befitting a city of many tongues. He speaks English, Spanish, ‘Hip Hop,’ ‘the Blues,’ and ‘cool jazz.’ He speaks in ‘mad solos.’ He speaks in ‘People’s Sonnets.’ He speaks in the language of protest. He speaks in the language of praise."

New Poems from the Poet Laureate of Los Angeles

Borrowed Bones

A Mixteca Indian from Oaxaca, Amâerica Soliz, suffers from the poverty and hopelessness of her Chicago ghetto, made more endurable by a desire and determination to be a poet.

América is Her Name

A former gang member, peacemaker, and poet offers practical suggestions for creating nonviolent opportunities for at-risk youth.

Creating Community in Violent Times

Hearts and Hands

Marie Howe

Richard Blanco

Over twenty-five years ago two Americans, Dr. Diana Frade and her husband, Episcopalian Bishop Leo Frade, founded Our Little Roses Home for Girls in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Until then abandoned girls were often given to prisoners since no such homes existed. Now Our Little Roses has some 60 rescued or orphaned girls in a city once considered the "murder capital of the world." Poverty and violence--especially in the past 25 years attributed to deported Los Angeles-based gangs--has affected the lives of all in the poorest Spanish-speaking country of the hemisphere. Unaccompanied youth from Honduras were among the 100,000 refugees, which also included children and youth from El Salvador and Guatemala, arriving to the United States between 2013 and 2015. American poet and Episcopalian priest Spencer Reece spent two years at Our Little Roses teaching poetry to girls who have lost family due to poverty, violence, and disasters like Hurricane Mitch that struck Honduras, Nicaragua, and Guatemala in 1998, resulting in 22,000 people dead or missing, 2.7 million homeless, and $6 billion in damages. This book has essays by Reece and Luis J. Rodríguez as a backdrop to the girls' voices, and a foreword and afterword by poets Marie Howe and Richard Blanco. Luis and his wife Trini, a poet, teacher, and indigenous healer, also helped teach at Our Little Roses and the Holy Family Bilingual School inside a walled compound in one of the city's poorest neighborhoods. Here poetry and stories transcend the pain of loss that often goes unexpressed. Here poetry serves as a beacon of hope and inspiration in the shadows. Here poetry can save lives.

Poems by the Girls of Our Little Roses, San Pedro Sula, Honduras

Counting Time Like People Count Stars

Luis J. Rodriguez writes about race, culture, identity, and belonging and what these all mean and should mean (but often fail to) in the volatile climate of our nation. His passion and wisdom inspire us with the message that we must come together if we are to move forward. As he writes in the preface, “Like millions of Americans, I’m demanding a new vision, a qualitatively different direction, for this country. One for the shared well-being of everyone. One with beauty, healing, poetry, imagination, and truth.” The pieces in From Our Land to Our Land capture that same fantastic energy and wisdom and will spark conversation and inspiration.

Essays, Journeys, and Imaginings from a Native Xicanx Writer

From Our Land to Our Land

Reluctantly a young boy becomes more and more involved in the activities of a local gang, until a tragic event involving his cousin forces him to make a choice about the course of his life.

Luis J. Rodriguez

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