The Literary and Activist Works of Luis J. Rodríguez

Metcalf, Jo

Abstract

Luis J. Rodríguez is a Chicano memoirist, novelist, poet, children’s author, and activist. Born in 1954 in Mexico, his family migrated to the United States when he was young. As a youth, he spent many years immersed in the street gangs of Los Angeles while concurrently partaking in community protests and mobilizations that became known as the Chicano movement of the 1960s and 1970s. It took Rodríguez several years to extract himself from a life of crime and addiction to drugs, though all the while he was writing, painting, and being inspired by revolutionary figures. His first book of poetry was published in 1989, but it was his memoir of gang life, Always Running—La Vida Loca: Gang Days in LA, released in 1993 in the aftermath of the LA riots, that garnered him mainstream literary attention. Always Running and its sequel, It Calls You Back: An Odyssey Through Love, Addiction, Revolutions and Healing, eighteen years later, can be labeled testimonio for detailing a Latina/o “lived” experience and fighting social injustices. In many ways Rodríguez can be deemed a “classic” Chicana/o author: he addresses the experience of migration and writes in both English and Spanish; he explores themes of prejudice and identity for Mexican Americans in the United States; and he considers the role of heteropatriarchal aspects of Mexican culture in defining his relationships (with women and children). His steadfast dedication to Native American/indigenous spirituality is a more recent focus in his life and writings, situating him among a long list of Chicana/os who have embarked on the “Red Road,” that is, life as indigenous-identified subjects. But what most arguably sets Rodríguez apart from fellow Chicana/o writers is his allegiance—throughout all his works in all genres—to proletarian politics and concerns for the working classes. His critiques of deindustrialization and its subsequent effects, particularly poverty, are reflected, for example, in his depictions of the Bethlehem Steel Mill of LA, where Rodríguez worked.

Citation

Metcalf, J. (2020). The Literary and Activist Works of Luis J. Rodríguez. In L. G. Mendoza (Ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latina and Latino Literature. New York: Oxford University Press

• Publication Date: Jun 22, 2020
• Deposit Date: Nov 8, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 23, 2022
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Book Title: The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latina and Latino Literature
• ISBN: 9780190624316
• Keywords: Chicana/o literature, Chicana/o poetry, Chicana/o autobiography, Testimonio, proletarian literature, Chicano movement, gender/Chicana, fatherhood, indigenous
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/1978557
• Publisher URL: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-oxford-encyclopedia-of-latina-and-latino-literature-9780190624316