Always Running by Luis J. Rodríguez
"Always Running" is a memoir by Luis J. Rodríguez that chronicles his experiences as a young gang member in East Los Angeles, reflecting on the challenges of growing up in a marginalized community. Written initially at the age of sixteen, the narrative was later completed as a response to his son Ramiro joining a gang in Chicago, illustrating a desperate attempt to communicate the dangers of a similar path. The book delves into Rodríguez's struggles with language barriers, systemic racism, and violence, detailing his early encounters with the police and the pervasive fear that accompanied his youth.
Throughout the memoir, Rodríguez recounts his descent into gang life and drug culture, highlighting his yearning for identity and belonging amidst socio-economic hardships. However, his journey takes a transformative turn when he encounters Chente Ramírez, a politically active Chicano who inspires him to embrace his heritage and engage in activism. This pivotal moment leads Rodríguez back to education, where he becomes an influential figure within his school community.
Ultimately, "Always Running" serves not only as a personal narrative but also as a broader commentary on the social conditions that foster gang culture. It reflects on issues of education, opportunity, and the quest for self-definition in the face of adversity, all while aiming to provide guidance and hope to his son and others in similar situations.
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Always Running by Luis J. Rodríguez
First published: 1993
The Work
Luis J. Rodríguez began writing Always Running as a sixteen-year-old gang member in East Los Angeles, but he did not complete it until his own son, Ramiro, joined a similar street gang in Chicago at age fifteen. Rodríguez’s description of la vida loca (the crazy life) is a testament to his difficult adolescence in a poor barrio, a memorial to friends of days and times long dead or lost, and an attempt to communicate with his son and save him from a fate that Rodríguez himself narrowly escaped.
As have many children of Spanish-speaking background, Rodríguez began school at a disadvantage, unable to speak English. “In those days there was no way to integrate the non-English-speaking children. So they just made it a crime to speak anything but English. If a Spanish word sneaked out . . . kids were often sent to the office to get swatted or to get detention. Teachers complained that maybe the children were saying bad things about them.” Rodríguez thus entered mainstream culture as a social outcast, uncomfortable in the English of the dominant culture, and made uncomfortable in his native language.
Rodríguez had his first skirmish with the police at ten, after climbing a school fence to play basketball after hours. “We were constant prey,” writes Rodríguez. He and his friends were pursued by the police, known to be racist and violent toward minorities, pursued by gangs, by junkies, by older white adolescents, even by teachers who seemed to hate Mexicans. “We were always afraid. Always running.”
Rodríguez dropped out of school and became deeply involved with gangs and drugs, seeking his identity in relationships with cronies who shared his poverty. Thrown out of the house, he lived in the garage, edging closer and closer to the destruction by drugs or violence that claimed the lives of his friends. Then, in 1970, Luis meets Chente Ramírez at one of the community centers created in response to the escalation of violence. A university-educated Chicano, Chente introduced Luis to political activism and Chicano pride. Luis returned to high school, where he too led political actions. He became the first non-Anglo to serve as mascot to the school football team, the Aztecs. He was graduated and briefly attended college. It was only by leaving his hometown, however, that he escaped the nefarious influence of gangs.
Rodríguez closes his memoir with a reflection on the Los Angeles riots of 1992 and the place of gangs, which thrive in the absence of solid education, “social recreation,” and jobs. A former gang member, Rodríguez redefines himself as a journalist, poet, and peacemaker. Always Running is his attempt to save his son Ramiro and all the other Ramiros.
Bibliography
Publishers Weekly. Review of Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A., by Luis J. Rodríguez. 240, no. 5 (February 1, 1993): 86.
Soto, Gary. Review of Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A., by Luis J. Rodríguez. The New York Times Book Review, February 14, 1993, 26.