Revolt of the Cockroach people

Revolt of the Cockroach People The novel Revolt of the Cockroach People by author Oscar Zeta Acosta is a very interesting story that shares the life of a Chicano lawyer by the name of Buffalo Zeta Brown; he is the main character in the book and is the archetype of “masculinity”. This novel takes place in the late sixties early seventies in the City of Los Angeles, California during the Chicano movement which was a time of turmoil for many Chicanos. They were discriminated against, thought of as troublesome, and faced social plight. The novel opens up during a riot on Christmas Eve in front of Saint Basil’s Roman Catholic Church, the church was built for five million dollars: “a harsh structure for puritanical worship, a simple solid excess of concrete, white marble, and black steel”(Zeta 11). Mr. Brown is in the midst of the chaos of the riot but police are told not to touch or harm him because he is their lawyer. Brown had come to Los Angeles during the year 1968 in search of a story to write about, not to be a lawyer, but that is the way it worked out. As a result, he became the lawyer of thirteen Chicanos from the Tooner Flats barrio. While in Los Angeles Mr. Brown stayed in the Belmont Hotel located at Third and Hill Streets, he took a look at all that surrounded his new temporary home and did not like it one bit; it was surrounded by “winos in tennies, skinny fags in tight pants and whores in purple skirts” (Zeta 23) After spending three months in “the filthy air of a broken city filled with battered losers” (Zeta 23) he met a man named Gilbert, through his cousin Manuel who had sent him money a while back. They begin to speak; at first Mr. Brown thought that Gilbert was a priest. When Gilbert and his two friends Risco, and Ruth learn that he wants to document the riots and strikes they allow him to do so and before he knows it he is caught in the epicenter of it all, and in all of the events that continue throughout the novel. Mr. Brown also assists in