Luis Rodriguez Poem
Matthew Wong
P. 6
12/1/14
Luis Javier Rodriguez: “You ‘Will Never Believe it”
Luis Javier Rodriguez is a well-known American poet, novelist, memoirist, journalist, critic, columnist; his work also includes short story writing and children’s books, but before his writing career, he was an active gang member during the 1960’s and 1970’s. Born in the United States-Mexico border city of El Paso, Texas, Luis grew up with diligent and honorable parents. Luis’ father was a high school principal, while making time to work in factories and construction sites, while his mother was a school secretary and worked as a maid, but even so, he was not able to isolate himself off the streets. Just at the age of 11, Luis identified himself with his first street …show more content…
From growing up in gangs, to suffering withdrawals from his drug addictions, as well as being in and out of jail, he made it his life’s mission to turn his life around for not only his children, but for himself. “There are choices you have to make not just once, but every time they come up”, as quoted in Always Running. Luis is a depiction of proof that it is possible for anyone to turn their life around, but you cannot just dream of it, you have to have the courage and determination to continually work for it. For the past forty years, Luis has been an influential gang intervention and prevention leader in both Los Angeles and Chicago. Recently, in 2012, he partook on the Transnational Advisory Group in Support of the Peace Process in El Salvador to bravely approach, offer his recommendations to assist a “gang-led peace 2012 gang-led peace truce between MS-13 and 18th Street leaders that had international ramifications” (http://www.luisjrodriguez.com/history). Today, Luis is named the 2014 Los Angeles Poet Laureate and of course, he will leave a legacy as a major figure in contemporary Chicano literature. He has written a total of fifteen books “and was ranked number 63 on the American Library Associations’ "Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009" list” (http://ballotpedia.org/Luis_Rodriguez). His writings have appeared in the Los Angeles and New York Times, Poets and Writers, and the Huffington Post just to name a few. His best-selling book Always Running has sold approximately half a million copies by 2014 and has benefitted his life in more ways than one; for starters, it helped him turn away from his drinking habits. Although Always Running was written in desperation to direct his son onto the right path, Luis realized that this was the book that eventually saved his own life. The position Luis grew up in and the
P. 6
12/1/14
Luis Javier Rodriguez: “You ‘Will Never Believe it”
Luis Javier Rodriguez is a well-known American poet, novelist, memoirist, journalist, critic, columnist; his work also includes short story writing and children’s books, but before his writing career, he was an active gang member during the 1960’s and 1970’s. Born in the United States-Mexico border city of El Paso, Texas, Luis grew up with diligent and honorable parents. Luis’ father was a high school principal, while making time to work in factories and construction sites, while his mother was a school secretary and worked as a maid, but even so, he was not able to isolate himself off the streets. Just at the age of 11, Luis identified himself with his first street …show more content…
From growing up in gangs, to suffering withdrawals from his drug addictions, as well as being in and out of jail, he made it his life’s mission to turn his life around for not only his children, but for himself. “There are choices you have to make not just once, but every time they come up”, as quoted in Always Running. Luis is a depiction of proof that it is possible for anyone to turn their life around, but you cannot just dream of it, you have to have the courage and determination to continually work for it. For the past forty years, Luis has been an influential gang intervention and prevention leader in both Los Angeles and Chicago. Recently, in 2012, he partook on the Transnational Advisory Group in Support of the Peace Process in El Salvador to bravely approach, offer his recommendations to assist a “gang-led peace 2012 gang-led peace truce between MS-13 and 18th Street leaders that had international ramifications” (http://www.luisjrodriguez.com/history). Today, Luis is named the 2014 Los Angeles Poet Laureate and of course, he will leave a legacy as a major figure in contemporary Chicano literature. He has written a total of fifteen books “and was ranked number 63 on the American Library Associations’ "Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009" list” (http://ballotpedia.org/Luis_Rodriguez). His writings have appeared in the Los Angeles and New York Times, Poets and Writers, and the Huffington Post just to name a few. His best-selling book Always Running has sold approximately half a million copies by 2014 and has benefitted his life in more ways than one; for starters, it helped him turn away from his drinking habits. Although Always Running was written in desperation to direct his son onto the right path, Luis realized that this was the book that eventually saved his own life. The position Luis grew up in and the