In Always Running by Luis Rodriguez a Father tries to get his son out of the life that he sadly had while doing this he recollects the story of how his life while being in a gang and what he had endured during the process this book is full of tragedy and loss but if you look deep enough you find meaning and theme in all of the hardship he and his friends endured throughout his life as a young adult. while the story slowly progresses you see how the character changes for the better and you finally see him resolve the root of the books problem this book is certainly not for the feint of heart but if you can get pass that it is a almost heart warming book about one mans adventure through life trying to get out of a life full of discrimination while trying to ignore the monstrosities that happen around him.

Pros

• The book is full of real life experiences that are relatable to a certain extent.
• it is written very what seems to be informally if you like that style of writing.
• is a realitivley short book.
• is a book that can teach us all something.

Cons

• is pretty graphic and heart breaking.
• not everyone can relate to the main character.
• is very realistically told.

The best way to sum up our experience with this book is that it was a roller coaster of many different conflicting emotions and to be honest i love that kind of story telling so i do recommend if your not squeamish that you read this book.

P.S.

You can find this book in many local bookstores and at Barnes and Nobles.

In Luis Rodriguez Book, “Always Running”, readers will learn about the author’s early life and the things he has gone through. He talks about dealing with problems that his family and the people around them had. They dealt with poverty and with the education system that never worked. He also talks about the violence that happened around him as a result of the things that they were going through. It seemed that it would be impossible for him to escape his reality until he found something to use to get away from the violence in his life. For Rodriguez and for many others going through this struggle their way of getting out of it was poetry.  

Poetry is one way for someone to express their feelings to the world. Finding a way to express our feelings is an important thing for everyone to do because if we don’t we we have keep those feelings to ourselves. This is something that is especially important when you are raised somewhere where it is seen as cowardly if you do feel sad.This was true for Luis Rodriguez and many others like him. Poetry is a way to let out all the emotion and frustration that you have. For youths in L.A their frustration comes from the combination of poverty, discrimination, and bad education that they have to deal with.

 

Former gang members speak out through poetry

Poetry has become recognized as a positive way to move forward in your life. The link above shows a video of former gang members using poetry as a way to share their feelings and experiences based on the harsh childhood they had.

 

You can see that poetry has really changed their lives in a positive way. Sharing you emotions is important for everyone but it is also important for someone to listen. That is why it is important to read books and poetry like “Always Running”. Doing this is the only way to understand someone completely even if you haven’t gone through what they have. Once we understand that person we can begin finding ways to help them.

 

The setting of classic gang filled L.A book  Always Running by Luis Rodriguez is a very interesting one and fills the whole book with its own emotion it really is what ties the whole book together.The book was set in the ghettos of East L.A it seemed like this part of L.A in the book was ridden with hate and discrimination gangs and violence. seeing this in the book has filled me with thoughts of how East L.A is today compared to the harshness of it in the late 60’s and the 70’s to

first see that we have to first understand the economic state of East L.A. Most of east La makes less than 15 thousand dollars which is 17 percent of the population just for comparison poverty level is about 24,000 dollars a year for a family of four that means 17% of the population makes significantly less than poverty level income I couldn’t find any statistic for 1970 and 60 but i did find several things saying that East L.A has certainly grown since that time which is astounding so just imagine a majority of people being poor and having no where to belong people were probably quick to join a gang if they had opportunity to have a community I personally suspect that nothing will be different in our day and age and according to this map data       As this Map indicates there seems to be still mass gang violence in the area covering  almost all of L.A which is now clear to me that East L.A or L.A as a whole for that fact has not changed much through the years.

Always Running: la vida loca: Gang Days in L.A.

Gang related activities happen to often than they should have. Surrounding oneself with bad influences and growing up in poverty friends of friends start to understand each other on a deeper level and eventually fall into a brotherhood for life AKA a gang. It is not fun to witness people grow up into something that they never wanted there future to be but yet got comfortable with the lifestyle while knowing if they left it would be betrayal for the friends that will always have your back.

Personally witnessing people from my bloodline entering a gang is an unforgettable experience.  I was a little boy always taking risks that would get me in trouble. Although I knew it was wrong, it was exciting to me. After a while my biological father started to realize who I was becoming, him. He decided to take initiative and teach me the right path that wasn’t the gang lifestyle. The stories that they would tell and the hardships they went through were remarkable, given he wanted the best future for me, his stories from his friends, fights, and the time he spent in Juvenal hall always had my interest. As hard as the gang life is he got “out” because of financial issues he had to move away from everything including me. Now, me trying to do better I will always remember one thing he told me, don’t give up.