Always Running Chapter Summary
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Always Running Study Guide by Course Hero
What's Inside
j Book Basics 1 .................................................................................................
d In Context 1 .....................................................................................................
a Author Biography 3 .....................................................................................
h Key Figures 4 .................................................................................................
k Plot Summary 10 ...........................................................................................
c Chapter Summaries 14 ..............................................................................
g Quotes 30 ........................................................................................................
l Symbols 32 .....................................................................................................
m Themes 33 ......................................................................................................
j Book Basics A U T H O R Luis J. Rodriguez
Y E A R P U B L I S H E D 1993
G E N R E Memoir
P E R S P E C T I V E A N D N A R R A T O R Always Running, written in the first person, relates the personal
experiences of the author, Luis Rodríguez.
T E N S E Always Running is written in the past tense.
A B O U T T H E T I T L E
The title Always Running expresses the chaotic nature of the
author's early life. La vida loca (Spanish for "the crazy life") is a
term used by Chicano gang members (those of Mexican
descent who were born or are living in the United States) to
describe their lifestyle. Gang Days in L.A. names the portion of
the author's life described in the book.
d In Context
Always Running and the
Chicano Literary Tradition
The term Chicano (feminine Chicana; gender-neutral Chicanx)
is not synonymous with Hispanic (of Spanish origin), Latino (of
Latin American origin), or Mexican (of Mexican origin) in that
the term Chicano refers specifically to residents of the United
States who are of Mexican descent. Always Running by Luis
Rodríguez falls squarely into the 20th- and 21st-century
tradition of Chicano literary renaissance literature, which
examines the experiences of Chicano immigrants and their
descendants in the United States.
The Chicano literary renaissance took hold in the United
States during the second half of the 1960s (although its roots
can be traced as far back as the 1870s, when literary
responses to the annexation of Texas (1845) and the Mexican-
American War (1846–48) began to appear). Peaking in the
1970s and still active, it has produced a tapestry of fiction,
nonfiction, poetry, drama, and essays that affirm and examine
Chicano and Mexican ethnic identities and experiences. While
primarily aimed at its own community, the work of Chicano
writers also serves as a means to enhance the social
consciousness of the dominant Anglo (white) culture in United
States.
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In the new introduction to Always Running, Rodríguez states
that he cannot claim that the book "is representative of the
vastly multifaceted Chicano gang life." Yet, he addresses
historical, political, economic, and social aspects of that life at
length. His contention that gangs are the product of centuries
of social disenfranchisement is backed by extensive historical
and social research. The subjugation of indigenous societies in
Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean by European
cultures has, since the late 15th century, both pushed those
native peoples to the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder and
kept them there. The formation of gangs such as those in
which Rodríguez spent much of his early life is a present-day
manifestation of the social and economic disparity that has
largely defined the Americas since the so-called age of
exploration.
Chicano Gang Activity in Los
Angeles
In Always Running, author Rodríguez relates an early life spent
involved with gangs. By the time he became part of the Animal
Tribe and the Lomas, gangs had long been a fixture in the
community of Los Angeles (as well as in places such as
Chicago, New York, Newark, and Oklahoma City). The earliest
Los Angeles Chicano gangs formed in the barrios
(impoverished Spanish-speaking neighborhoods) during the
1920s. Initially, the groups had no formal structure. They were
simply cliques of impoverished males between ages 14 and 20,
united for protection and to socialize with others who shared
the same language and culture.
Culturally, economically, and geographically marginalized from
opportunities afforded to the white population, these groups
built their own identities from territoriality; gangs would go to
extreme lengths to defend their turf from outsiders, most often
other gangs. Their oppression by society in general also led
the gangs to value displays of antiauthoritarian behavior.
Committing crimes conferred status within the gang. Jail time
commanded respect.
Over the decades Chicano gangs in Los Angeles became more
structured and their activities more ritualized (and violent).
Leaders arose from among the veteranos, older members who
had been shot or stabbed in gang fights or served prison
sentences. An elaborate system of self-identification arose,
including tattoos, graffiti, and hand gestures specific to each
group. New, younger members were actively recruited.
Initiation generally involved the commission of a crime to
demonstrate allegiance and later evolved to being jumped in,
or beaten by the other gang members.
By 2018, Chicano gang-related violence (and U.S. gang-related
violence in general) was at or near an all-time low. Some of this
decline can be attributed to activist efforts at making peace
among gangs, along with an increased police presence in
gang-ridden areas. At the same time, there has been no
appreciable decrease in the actual number of gangs. The root
causes of gang formation—poverty, lack of opportunity, racism,
and inadequate education—remain. As research has
consistently shown—and as is abundantly demonstrated in
Always Running—when a society does not offer its youth a
sense of belonging, those who are disenfranchised will create
their own societies to fill that need.
Troubled History of the Los
Angeles Police Department
Throughout Always Running (which takes place between 1956
and 1993), Rodríguez references the ongoing tension between
Los Angeles's Chicano community (its gang subculture, in
particular) and law enforcement authorities. His story can be
seen as a chapter in the Los Angeles Police Department's
(LAPD) long and violent history of conflict with Chicanos, black
people, and other minorities.
Rodríguez was born in 1954, the year that the Supreme Court
handed down the Brown v. Board of Education decision
mandating an end to racial segregation in public schools.
Activism both for and against civil rights strengthened in its
wake, making at least some degree of cultural conflict
inevitable. In August 1965 a white patrol officer pulled over a
car containing two black stepbrothers in Watts, a Los Angeles
neighborhood. The driver, Marquette Frye (1944–86), failed a
sobriety test and was arrested. He resisted, and a scuffle
ensued. A crowd gathered, and more police arrived. A sheriff's
deputy used a nightstick on Marquette as the crowd, attracted
by the commotion, swelled to hundreds. The incident kicked off
six days of widespread rioting, now known as the Watts riots,
during which the National Guard was summoned. An estimated
34 people were killed, over a thousand were wounded, and
$40 million worth of property was damaged or destroyed. A
subsequent report on the incident identified its root causes as
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widespread distrust of the LAPD, high poverty, and lack of
educational and employment opportunities among the area's
minorities.
The following two decades saw frequent investigations into
police brutality and corruption in the LAPD. In 1990 the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP) and other civil rights groups filed a class-action
lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
The move was a reaction to a well-documented and systemic
pattern by police of racial harassment, excessive force, and
unlawful searches and seizures in the largely Chicano
community of Lynwood, near South Central Los Angeles. A
federal judge concluded that Lynwood deputies, motivated by
"racial hostility" and with the full knowledge of their superiors,
routinely used "terrorist-type tactics" that violated civil and
constitutional rights.
On March 3, 1991, the LAPD's strong-arm approach received
international attention in an incident that author Rodríguez
examines in the epilogue of Always Running. Four police
officers were videotaped beating an unarmed black man
named Rodney King (1965–2012) when he attempted to evade
arrest for a traffic violation. About 13 months later—the day
after Los Angeles's two most notorious gangs, the Crips and
the Bloods, announced a peace treaty—a California jury found
the four defendants in the King beating not guilty of assault
and use of excessive force. The announcement of the verdict
sparked several days of riots throughout Los Angeles, with 42
people killed and over 5,000 arrested, nearly 90 percent of
them Chicano or Latino (of Latin American origin) or black. The
following year, a federal jury convicted two of the four officers
of violating King's civil rights; they were each sentenced to 30
months in prison. In 1994 King was awarded $3.8 million in
damages.
The King incident would prove to be far from the last racially
tinged scandal involving the LAPD. The 1996 O.J. Simpson (b.
1947) trial—in which the famous black football star was
acquitted of murder—further tarnished the department's
reputation. LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman (b. 1952) was found
guilty of perjury in his testimony against Simpson. His claim
that he had never used a racial epithet was disproven by audio
in which he not only used racial slurs but bragged that he liked
to line black people up against the wall and shoot them.
This event was followed in the late 1990s and early 2000s by
the Rampart scandal, in which several members of Los
Angeles's anti-gang unit CRASH were convicted of abusing
suspects and falsifying reports. Investigations into CRASH's
activities led to the firing or resignation of nearly 20 officers,
several of whom were criminally indicted, and the overturning
of more than 100 convictions. Many of the allegations against
CRASH officers remain under investigation. The U.S.
Department of Justice placed the LAPD under a federal
supervision decree that ended in 2009. Since then, there have
been fewer allegations of corruption and misconduct against
the department. However, a 2016 survey found that nonwhite
residents still deeply distrusted the police and believed that
officers continued to exercise racial discrimination. Between
2012 and 2014, more than 1,300 racial bias complaints were
filed against the department. The department investigated and
dismissed all of these complaints.
a Author Biography Luis Javier Rodríguez is a successful novelist, poet, memoirist,
journalist, critic, and activist. He was born in 1954 in El Paso,
Texas.
Early Life and Education
Although Rodríguez was born in the United States (El Paso,
Texas, is on the Texas-Mexico border), his parents, Alfonso
and María Estela, were residents of Ciudad Juarez, in the
Mexican state of Chihuahua. The family immigrated to Los
Angeles County in the United States when Luis was two. Once
there, they moved frequently before settling in the city of San
Gabriel when Luis was 13.
Little attention was given to students who did not speak
English in Rodríguez's early elementary schools, so he had to
pick up the language on his own, through his love of books.
When Rodríguez was 13, his father, Alfonso, found a job as a
laboratory custodian and purchased a house for his family.
Although he'd already been arrested when he was 10,
Rodríguez began having regular run-ins with the law around
this time; he was arrested frequently for fighting and stealing.
His parents kicked him out of the house when he was 15. He
lived on the streets of downtown Los Angeles for several
weeks before being allowed to return home. Despite his
mother's refusal to allow him into the house, he moved into a
room above her garage, which had neither heat nor plumbing.
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Beginning at age 15, he was expelled from two high schools
and dropped out of another.
Gang Activity, Drug Use, and an
Epiphany
Rodríguez joined his first gang at 11. His drug and alcohol
abuse began at age 12 and eventually escalated to heroin use.
He was initiated into the inner circle of the South San Gabriel
gang Lomas at 15 and was arrested the following year for
participating in an anti-Vietnam War protest that turned into a
riot. While most people were released soon after, Rodríguez
and several other young Chicanos were held for several days.
Police threatened Rodríguez with murder charges that were
never pursued. Other arrests followed, and at age 18 he was
charged with assaulting a police officer, although the charges
were reduced to "drunk and disorderly." Rodríguez accepted
the deal to avoid state prison, and that incident led to his
decision to pull his life together and pursue his talents as a
writer and graffiti artist. A few months later, after running afoul
of fellow Lomas gang members over his decision to change his
lifestyle and with the help of a youth worker (called "Chente" in
Always Running), Rodríguez left both the South San Gabriel
area and gang life. Although he at first struggled on this new
path by falling back into drugs and gang activity, within a
couple of years Rodríguez had managed to fully abandon his
old life.
Interest in Writing
Rodríguez traces his love for words to age 10, when a teacher
read American writer E.B. White's (1899–1985) Charlotte's Web
(1952) to his class. He credits reading for helping him learn
English. Even when he was homeless and immersed in gang
activity, he frequented L.A.'s Central Library and other libraries
and bookstores. Beginning in 1980, at age 25, he took classes
in journalism and creative writing at East Los Angeles
Community College. He found work afterward as a reporter in
San Bernardino, California, and freelanced for several
publications while writing fiction and poetry of his own.
Career Success
In 1985 Rodríguez moved to Chicago and became active in the
city's poetry scene. He published his first collection of poetry,
Poems Across the Pavement, in 1989. His output since then has
included more poetry, fiction, and two children's books. He is
best known, however, for 1993's Always Running: La Vida Loca:
Gang Days in L.A. That memoir earned him both a Carl
Sandburg Literary Award (1993) and a Chicago Sun-Times
Book Award (1994), and it was named a New York Times
Notable Book that same year. A sequel—It Calls You Back: An
Odyssey through Love, Addiction, Revolutions, and
Healing—was published in 2011 and received the National Book
Critics Circle Award for Autobiography. Rodríguez has also
won awards for his poetry and children's books, and his work
has appeared in several anthologies. In 2014 he was selected
by Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti (b. 1971) as that city's poet
laureate.
Other Activities and
Accomplishments
In his early 20s Rodríguez became involved in Chicano
activism. Since 1980 he has regularly visited prisons and
juvenile detention centers, conducting talks, readings, and
writing workshops throughout the United States and in several
other countries. A committed leader in the social justice
movement, Rodríguez has helped develop activism networks
and with his wife, Trini (b. 1953), has taught numerous activist
trainings. He has also become a key figure in brokering peace
between gangs, with successes in Los Angeles, Chicago, and
El Salvador. He is the cocreator of the community-based gang
intervention model, which has proven effective in reducing
gang violence in Los Angeles and has shaped policy in Mexico,
El Salvador, Guatemala, and the United Kingdom. He has also
served as a script consultant for several television productions
depicting gang life.
h Key Figures
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Luis Rodríguez
Luis Rodríguez is the author and central figure of Always
Running. He is two when his family immigrates to the Los
Angeles area from Mexico. His early education is inadequate
because of the lack of facilities for Spanish-speaking students,
and this faulty groundwork results in an educational
disadvantage throughout his school years. He becomes
involved in gang activity in his early teens, with the violence,
drugs, and sexual promiscuity that it entails. After years of
trouble with both school authorities and the police, he turns his
life around and emerges as a successful writer and political
activist.
Chente Ramírez
Luis Rodríguez, at 16, meets Chente Ramírez. Ramírez is
influential in raising Rodríguez's self-awareness, creative
potential, and social consciousness and becomes instrumental
in removing Rodríguez from gang life.
Ramiro
Ramiro is Luis Rodríguez's first child, by his first wife, Camila.
Although he does not appear in the main narrative of Always
Running, Ramiro's life and difficulties—and his father's role in
them—are described in the book's new introduction, preface,
and epilogue.
Mrs. Baez
Mrs. Baez is instrumental in empowering a teenage Luis
Rodríguez to create a more significant presence for Chicano
students in his high school. She also encourages him to
develop his talent for writing, helping him to prepare and
submit his work.
María Estela
María Estela is largely unhappy in the United States and
overwhelmed by Luis's problems at school and with the police.
She throws him out of the house when he is 14 and then allows
him to return, provided he live in the garage. She is supportive
of him later when he takes up boxing as an acceptable means
of channeling his aggression but cries a mother's tears when
he is injured during his first bout.
Alfonso
Alfonso is the principal at the high school in the Mexican
border town in which the Rodríguez family lives, until political
disagreement with his superiors costs him his job. He responds
by moving his family to the United States, where his
background and poor English make it difficult for him to find
good, steady work. Throughout most of Luis's childhood,
Alfonso is a custodian at a college laboratory. He is a distant,
uninvolved father to Luis, and his relationships with the rest of
his children are left unaddressed in Always Running.
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Key Figure Map
Mentor
Mentor
Father
Son
Mother
Spouses
Luis Rodríguez Young Chicano; grows up as a gang member
Ramiro Troubled young man; serves time in prison for attempted murder
Chente Ramírez Chicano activist; works
with gang members
Alfonso Mexican emigrant to
the United States; has limited job skills
María Estela Mexican emigrant to
the United States; has no job skills
Mrs. Baez Home-school coordinator
for Chicano high school students
Main Key Figure
Other Major Key Figure
Minor Key Figure
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Full Key Figure List
Key Figure Description
Luis Rodríguez Luis Rodríguez is a Chicano. He tells the story of his life in the memoir Always Running.
Chente Ramírez
Chente Ramírez is a community organizer and activist who concentrates his efforts in South San Gabriel, in Los Angeles County, California.
Ramiro Ramiro Rodríguez is the oldest son of Luis Rodríguez, the author and narrator of Always Running.
Mrs. Baez
Mrs. Baez is the home- school coordinator for the Chicano groups at Mark Keppel High School, which Luis Rodríguez attends.
María Estela
María Estela Rodríguez is mother to Luis Rodríguez, his older brother René José, and his younger sisters Ana Virginia and Gloria Estela.
Alfonso
Alfonso Rodríguez is father to Luis Rodríguez, his older brother René José, and his younger sisters Ana Virginia and Gloria Estela.
Ana Virginia Ana Virginia Rodríguez is one of Luis Rodríguez's two younger sisters.
Arnie
Arnie is a friend of Luis Rodríguez's friend Chicharrón. The three of them go out to eat at a fancy restaurant and then try to leave without paying.
Judith Baca Judith Baca (b. 1946) is a successful Chicana muralist who lives in Los Angeles, California.
Beto Beto is a member of Lomas. He assists Rodríguez in firebombing the home of Sangra member Chava.
Big Red "Big Red" is the nickname of an LAPD cop with whom Luis Rodríguez is familiar.
Boffo "Boffo" is the nickname of an LAPD cop with whom Luis Rodríguez is familiar.
Cha Cha Cha Cha is a female classmate of Luis Rodríguez at Mark Keppel High School.
Chava Chava is a member of Sangra, a rival gang of Luis Rodríguez's Lomas.
Chicano deputy
A Chicano deputy has a conversation with Luis Rodríguez while Luis and his friends are incarcerated after a confrontation with police.
Chicharrón
Chicharrón is a camarado (partner) of Luis Rodríguez. The two of them, along with Clavo and Wilo, are known as los cuatro (the four).
Tía Chucha Tía ("Aunt") Chucha is Luis Rodríguez's favorite aunt when he is young.
Clavo
Clavo is a camarado (partner) of Luis Rodríguez. The two of them, along with Chicharrón and Wilo, are known as los cuatro (the four).
Fred J. Coates Fred J. Coates is the LAPD sheriff's deputy who fatally shoots Miguel Robles.
Cowboy "Cowboy" is the nickname of an LAPD cop with whom Luis Rodríguez is familiar.
Coyote Coyote is a member of the Sangra gang and one of Viviana's brothers.
Cuervo Cuervo is a fellow member of Luis Rodríguez's gang, Lomas.
Daddio
Daddio is a member of Lomas. He assists Rodríguez in firebombing the home of Sangra member Chava. He is later killed in an accident while fleeing the police.
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DeSoto's driver
The driver of a 1952 Chrysler DeSoto is stabbed by Luis Rodríguez during his initiation into Lomas.
Clinic doctor
The doctor at the clinic where Luis Rodríguez gets his lip stitched performs the procedure without anesthetic.
Earl Earl is one of Luis Rodríguez's few friends when Luis first begins school in the United States.
Eight Ball Eight Ball is a fellow member of Luis Rodríguez's gang, Lomas.
Esme Esme is a classmate of Luis Rodríguez's at Mark Keppel High School.
Señor Franco
Señor Franco is a folklore expert who helps Luis Rodríguez and Esme prepare an authentic Aztec dance routine for their high school.
Daniel Fuentes
Daniel Fuentes is a local boxing club owner who introduces Luis Rodríguez to the sport.
Gloria Estela Gloria Estela Rodríguez is one of Luis Rodríguez's two younger sisters.
Gronk Glugio "Gronk" Nicandro (b. 1954) is a Los Angeles artist known for his murals.
Willie Herrón III
Willie Herrón III (b. 1951) is an American graphic artist and musician.
Mr. Humes Mr. Humes is a history teacher at Mark Keppel High School.
Indio Indio is a friend of Lomas member Santos. Both are killed in a drive- by shooting.
Jaime Jaime is one of Luis Rodríguez's few friends when Luis first begins school in the United States.
José René José René (Joe) Rodríguez is Luis Rodríguez's older brother.
Charles Kearney
Charles Kearney is the manager of a restaurant at which Luis Rodríguez, Chicharrón, and Arnie attempt to eat without paying.
Little Man Little Man is a friend and fellow gang member of Luis Rodríguez. He is murdered by members of Sangra.
Fernie López Fernie López is a member of the Animal Tribe gang, to which Luis Rodríguez also belongs.
Maddog "Maddog" is the nickname of an LAPD cop with whom Luis Rodríguez is familiar.
Mr. Madison Mr. Madison is the principal of Mark Keppel High School.
Charles Manson
Charles Manson (1934–2017) was the leader of a cult responsible for seven murders in 1969.
Camila Martinez
Camila Martinez is Luis Rodríguez's first wife.
Rubén Navarro
Rubén Navarro (b. 1946) is a retired professional boxer who lives in Los Angeles, California.
Negro Negro is a member of the Sangra gang and one of Viviana's brothers.
Roger Nelson
Roger Nelson is a friend of Luis Rodríguez. He loans Rodríguez a rifle, which Rodríguez uses to shoot a biker during a gang clash.
Night Owl Night Owl is a member of the Sangra gang whom Luis Rodríguez briefly befriends while incarcerated.
Nina Nina is a local girl who hosts the initiation at which Luis Rodríguez joins the Lomas gang.
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Nina's mother Nina's mother cooks food for the guests at the initiation during which Luis Rodríguez joins the Lomas gang.
Pancho Pancho is the well- liked older cousin of Luis Rodríguez and his siblings.
Payasa Payasa is Wilo's sister. Luis Rodríguez has a brief involvement with her.
Mr. Perez
Mr. Perez is a print- shop teacher at Mark Keppel High School. He is popular among the Chicano students there, and his dismissal sparks protest.
Pokie Pokie is a member of Lomas. He assists Rodríguez in firebombing the home of Sangra member Chava.
Police deputy A police deputy, with his partner, shouts at Tito and chases him to his death.
Puppet Puppet is a veterano (veteran) leader of the Lomas gang. He was convicted of murder at 16.
Roberta Roberta is a young woman with whom Luis Rodríguez has a brief sexual relationship.
Miguel Robles Miguel Robles is a friend of Luis Rodríguez who is shot to death by an LAPD deputy.
Mooney Robles
Mooney Robles is the brother of Miguel Robles.
Mr. Rothro Mr. Rothro is the former principal of the elementary school that Luis Rodríguez attended.
Licha Rubalcava
Licha Rubalcava is a married woman with three children whom Luis Rodríguez attempts to save from a beating by LAPD officers. His efforts result in his own arrest, and the two have a brief affair.
Rubén Joaquín
Rubén Joaquín Rodríguez is the youngest child of Luis Rodríguez.
Rubén Salazar
Rubén Salazar (1928–70) was a Chicano journalist who was killed during the 1970 Chicano Moratorium march, a protest against the Vietnam War.
Santos Santos is a member of Lomas. He assists Rodríguez in firebombing the home of Sangra member Chava.
Seni Seni is Luis Rodríguez's adult half- sister, with whom his family lives for a short period.
Shark Shark is a member of the Sangra gang and one of Viviana's brothers.
Smokey Smokey sets up Rodríguez with his first fix of heroin.
Terry
Terry is a woman with whom Luis Rodríguez has an affair and who disappears after telling Luis she is pregnant with his child.
Tino
Tino, a 10-year-old friend of the likewise 10- year-old Luis Rodríguez, dies accidentally while fleeing from the police.
Trini Trini Rodríguez is the third wife of Luis Rodríguez.
Viviana
Viviana is a young woman with whom Luis Rodríguez falls in love. Their affair is doomed by the fact that three of her brothers belong to Sangra, a rival gang to Rodríguez's Lomas.
Wilo
Wilo is a camarado (partner) of Luis Rodríguez. The two of them, along with Chicharrón and Clavo, are known as los cuatro (the four).
Yuk Yuk
Yuk Yuk takes the place of Clavo in los cuatro after Clavo disappears. He is later killed in an accident while fleeing the police.
Yuk Yuk's mother
Yuk Yuk's mother refuses to let Luis Rodríguez stay at her home after Luis's mother has thrown him out.
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k Plot Summary
Early Childhood
Luis Rodríguez, who was born in the United States, is two when
his family relocates from Mexico to the United States. The
family settles first in Watts, an industrial area of Los Angeles.
Rodríguez and his older brother, José René, attend an
elementary school with no facilities for teaching Spanish-
speaking students. Their father, Alfonso, gets a good job but
then goes into heavy debt and loses that job, leaving them
homeless. An attempt to live with relatives ends in the eviction
of them all. Rodríguez's mother, María Estela, resolves to
return to Mexico with the children but changes her mind at the
train station.
Rodríguez acquires an acceptable grasp of English by age 10.
By the time he is 11, in response to a gang attack upon his
South San Gabriel school, "gangs" have begun to take shape
among his classmates. He and some friends form a group
called "Thee Impersonations," whose members vow that they
will always look out for one another. About the time he finishes
elementary school, his father finds steady work and buys a
two-bedroom house. Rodríguez is enrolled in an intermediate
school with a 50 percent dropout rate and begins getting into
trouble on a regular basis both at school and with the police.
Gang Years and Beyond
Rodríguez joins a gang called the Animal Tribe, which in time
absorbs the smaller, weaker gangs in the area. He and three
friends become known as los cuatro (the four). A clash with
members of rival gang Sangra results in fellow los cuatro
member Clavo losing an eye to gunfire. Clavo leaves both los
cuatro and the Animal Tribe, and a teen called Yuk Yuk takes
his place. Yuk Yuk has done time in juvenile hall and networked
with local criminals. Those connections provide the support for
los cuatro to steal and fence (sell stolen goods) others'
property. The four also begin committing armed robberies, and
on one occasion Rodríguez is nearly shot by the proprietor of a
drive-in.
Rodríguez's mother, María Estela, throws him out of the house
when he is 14. After he spends some time on the street, she
agrees to let him return provided he lives in the garage. At 15
he is enrolled in Mark Keppel High School, the first of three
from which he will either be expelled or drop out. Drug and
alcohol use become an integral part of his life (as does sexual
promiscuity), and in time he becomes a heroin user.
The Animal Tribe falls apart, and a gang called Lomas arises to
fill the void. Rodríguez, still 15, joins Lomas in a violent initiation
ceremony that includes a random assault on four strangers. At
16 he is expelled from school. He meets a community organizer
named Chente Ramírez who begins to assert a positive
influence on his life. At 17 he is allowed to return to Mark
Keppel High School and becomes active there in improving
conditions for Chicano students. His involvement with Lomas
continues, however, and his encounters with the police
become steadily more serious.
A clash between Lomas and an Anglo biker gang results in
Rodríguez's arrest and later acquittal for assault with intent to
commit murder. He graduates from high school at 18 and
begins taking college courses. These are cut short, however,
by yet another encounter with the law that leads to several
months of incarceration in county jail for drunk and disorderly
conduct. Upon his release he drops out of college, but the
experience has prompted him to quit drugs. When fellow
members of Lomas begin to follow his example, four of his
fellow gang members drive by in a car and shoot at him on the
street. Although he realizes it is just a warning, he decides the
time has come to leave la vida loca.
He contacts Chente Ramírez, who sets him up in a federally
subsidized hideout in nearby San Pedro. After some time there,
he settles in another part of L.A. He marries, has his first child
that he is certain has been born, and embarks on an adult life
of writing and social activism.
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Plot Diagram
Climax
1 2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Rising Action
Falling Action
Resolution
Introduction
Introduction
1. Luis Rodríguez and his family immigrate to California.
Rising Action
2. Rodríguez attends a school that is not helpful for Spanish speakers.
3. Rodríguez joins his first gang at age 11.
4. Rodríguez joins the Animal Tribe; he is ejected from home.
5. Rodríguez's life is violent, promiscuous, and drug-filled.
6. Rodríguez is initiated into Lomas. Later, he quits drugs.
Climax
7. Rodríguez's life is threatened by members of his gang.
Falling Action
8. Chente Ramírez helps Rodríguez leave gang life.
Resolution
9. Rodríguez begins a life of writing and activism.
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Timeline of Events
1956
Luis Rodríguez's family immigrates to the United States;
Luis is age two.
1957
José René begins school; he is placed in the "retarded"
class because he does not know English.
1960
Rodríguez is enrolled in elementary school; he is left to
himself because he does not know English.
1961–63
Alfonso gets a good job, goes into debt, and then loses
his job; the family becomes homeless.
1963
María Estella decides to return to Mexico with the
children but changes her mind at the last minute.
1964
Rodríguez's 10-year-old friend Tino has a fatal accident
while being chased by police.
1965
A gang attacks Rodríguez's school; he and classmates
form a first gang, "Thee Impersonations."
1967
Rodríguez begins intermediate school; he joins the
Animal Tribe and is in constant trouble.
1968
María Estella throws Rodríguez out of the house and
then lets him return and move into the garage.
1969
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Rodríguez enrolls in Mark Keppel High School and is
expelled before the academic year is over.
Later that year
The Animal Tribe disbands; Rodríguez is initiated into
Lomas.
1970
Rodríguez meets community organizer Chente Ramírez.
1971
Rodríguez is allowed to return to Mark Keppel High
School.
That school year
Rodríguez stages a walkout during school; a few days
later he shoots a biker during a gang battle.
A few weeks later
Rodríguez stands trial for shooting the biker; he is
acquitted.
1972
Rodríguez graduates from high school. He begins taking
college courses.
1973
Rodríguez quits drugs, and Lomas threatens his life. With
Chente Ramírez's help, he leaves the gang.
1974 and afterward
Rodríguez marries, starts a family, and embarks on a
career of writing and activism.
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c Chapter Summaries
The Long Run
Summary
Luis Rodríguez begins his memoir by describing the dozen
years that followed Always Running's first publication in 1993.
At the time of writing (spring 2005), his son Ramiro is in prison,
and many of the "homies" (friends) mentioned in this memoir
have died. He recounts his outreach activities—speaking at
schools and prisons, appearing on television, traveling
internationally—and the positive things that have resulted from
them.
He then addresses efforts to censor his book, taking particular
exception to many schools' repressive response to its sexual
content. He acknowledges that Always Running contains both
graphic sex and violence but points out that many young
people who love the book have had experiences similar to
those described in it.
He stresses that Always Running is not meant to be a definitive
representation of "the vastly multifaceted Chicano gang life."
He characterizes the book as his journey "from victim to
perpetrator to witness to revolutionary" and states his belief
that he has a duty to spread his story (although with some
facts and names changed to "protect the innocent and the
guilty"). While noting his own regret at falling short as a parent,
he relates how he has recently reconciled with his son and
how—despite his imprisonment—Ramiro maintains hope for his
own future.
He ends his introduction by thanking his family, those who have
published his book, and those who have fought attempts to
censor it. He also expresses appreciation for the book's role in
his own rehabilitation. Finally, he states his wish that its
influence will continue to shape not only the present, but what
he refers to as "the Long Run, seven generations hence."
Analysis
This introduction first appeared in the 2005 reprint of Always
Running. The rest of the book remains as it was written 12
years before, which casts this newer text as something of a
second epilogue. (Rodríguez is 51 at the time of its writing.) The
original epilogue closes with a sense of pride and hope for his
son Ramiro, who has himself been trying to make a break from
gang activity. At the time of that epilogue's writing, Ramiro has
begun make a name for himself as a poet. Rodríguez is hopeful
that his son will successfully overcome his inheritance of family
dysfunction, poverty, and violence.
As the new introduction begins, however, Ramiro is serving
time in prison. To his credit, Rodríguez does not shirk his own
culpability for the downturn in his son's life. He also, despite
Ramiro's setback, retains the same note of hope with which he
ended his epilogue over a decade before. He finds reason for
joy and optimism despite it all, quoting a letter from Ramiro in
which his son declares that they have developed "a true father
and son relationship."
Always Running made the American Library Association's list
of 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books for both 1990–99
and 2000–09. A cynical reader might see in Rodríguez's
defense of his book's graphic violent and sexual content a self-
serving attempt at commercial success. This view, however,
ignores the fact that the events he relates are taken from his
own youth. To the teenage members of the 33,000 gangs
currently active in the United States, the experiences and
observations of someone who has escaped la vida loca can
only be helpful. Rodríguez is right to insist on an unvarnished
presentation of his young life. As distasteful as it might
be—particularly to those with no firsthand knowledge of gang
life—there are tens of thousands, if not millions, of young
people for whom Rodríguez's story will resonate.
Preface to the 1993 Edition
Summary
Luis Rodríguez sets his preface in 1991, two years before the
publication of Always Running. He is living in a small Chicago
apartment in a bad part of town. With him is his third wife Trini,
their son Rubén Joaquín (age two), and 15-year-old Ramiro
(from Rodríguez's first marriage). It is a very cold winter, and
they seldom leave their home unnecessarily.
Ramiro is heavily involved in gang activity and is currently "on
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punishment." One night earlier that winter he came home very
late from school. A heated argument ensued, and a jacketless
Ramiro stormed from the house. Rodríguez fruitlessly chased
his son through alleys and streets before the boy disappeared.
It was another two weeks before Rodríguez, acting on a tip
from the local boys, found his son and brought him home.
Rodríguez explains that this was not the first time Ramiro had
run away. He attributes his son's delinquent behavior in large
part to the gang culture in which the boy grew up. (Ramiro lived
with his mother in an L.A. barrio for his first 13 years, before
moving to a gang-ridden part of Chicago to live with his father,
Rodríguez.) With a broken educational system and few or no
productive life options, the lure of gangs—and the money to be
made from the drug trade—is the only course for many young
people.
Rodríguez tries to get Ramiro to understand the systemic
nature of the forces against him. Ramiro begins to comprehend
when he learns that some gang friends of his were picked up
by the police, taken to a rival gang's area, and forced to cover
its gang graffiti with tags of their own while rival gang members
watched. Then the police left Ramiro's friends to find their own
way home, knowing the danger this represented.
Ultimately, Rodríguez concludes, he has written Always
Running for both his own son and the countless other Ramiros
out there. He expresses hope that by presenting the story of
his own gang life between ages 13 and 18, he will provide
others with the insight to deconstruct the culture that creates
and sustains gang activity.
Analysis
This preface remains unchanged from the book's first
publication in 1993. At the time of its writing, Rodríguez is
consumed with concern for his 15-year-old son, Ramiro. He is
all too aware of the dangers of gang life, and his son seems
headed down the same path.
Rodríguez's desperation is apparent as he tries to raise his
son. As the reader will see, his situation as a father largely
mirrors that of his own mother when Rodríguez was Ramiro's
age. Both live in constant fear of the worst, the gang-related
death of a child (though Ramirez tries to approach the issue
constructively, as opposed to an overwhelmed María Estela
who, as the reader will learn, simply threw the young Rodríguez
out of the house).
Rodríguez's contention that systemic forces create and
perpetuate gang violence is well supported here. Apart from
deliberate attempts by the police to spark violence between
gangs, it is telling that Ramiro—like his father years
before—can be homeless for weeks at a time with no
intervention on the part of the authorities. This is far less
common in more affluent neighborhoods.
Here, as elsewhere in Always Running, Rodríguez tells the
reader that he wrote the book mostly for his son and those like
him. As he explains in the book's new introduction, his attempt
was not entirely successful in Ramiro's case. Still, he maintains
hope that the book can be a positive force against the negative
influence of gang culture on society.
Chapter 1
Summary
Luis Rodríguez begins his memoir with an incident that
occurred when he was nine. It is a rainy night in Los Angeles,
and his father is driving the family car. Rodríguez is in the back
seat with his older brother, José René, and his two younger
sisters, Ana Virginia and Gloria Estela. Their parents, Alfonso
and María Estela, are arguing in the front seat. At her
insistence, Alfonso is taking her and the children to catch a
train back to their homeland of Mexico. Alfonso, however,
refuses to go with them. The young Rodríguez has no strong
feelings on the matter; his family has been moving from place
to place for as long as he can remember.
The narrative then shifts to the years preceding that episode.
When his family lived in Mexico, Alfonso was the principal of
their border town's high school. He lost his job in 1956 (when
Rodríguez was two) because of his strong political differences
with the local authorities. The incident prompted him to move
his family to Los Angeles. They settled in Watts, an industrial
area populated by people who had come from all over to meet
the local demand for cheap labor. Alfonso worked
intermittently in construction, manufacturing, and door-to-door
insurance sales. María Estela—who constantly battled poor
health from her 30s onward—cleaned homes and worked in
garment factories. The family moved around the Watts district,
eventually settling in a bad neighborhood on 105th Street.
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Rodríguez's scrappy brother, José, frequently roughed him up,
which encouraged other local boys to harass him as well. The
two also occasionally ventured into surrounding
neighborhoods, where they clashed with white teenagers.
José René was placed in classes with "retarded" children
because of his inability to speak English. When Rodríguez
began school at age six, his own inadequate English skills (and
the lack of resources for Spanish-speakers) also hampered his
ability to learn. He was placed alone in a back corner of his
classroom, which so intimidated him that he soiled himself at
first rather than ask to go to the restroom. Over time, however,
he began to catch on to his new language. He also made a
couple of friends, "a one-armed Mexican kid named Jaime" and
Earl, a classmate.
Then Alfonso got a job teaching Spanish to well-off Anglo
children in a good high school. His change in fortune prompted
him to buy a house in a better area, along with new furniture
and a new car. After amassing "a mountain of debt" to acquire
these things, the school let him go because his students found
his accent too hard to understand. Destitute again, the family
moved in with Rodríguez's adult half-sister Seni (Alfonso's
daughter from a previous relationship) and her husband. Soon
afterward, however, a violent fight in the family resulted in the
eviction of them all. That was the point at which María Estela
insisted that they return to Mexico.
Now they arrive at the train station. Alfonso walks them in, says
a quiet goodbye, turns, and begins to leave. María Estela
breaks down and says that she will stay with him in L.A. after
all. He accepts her choice, assuring her that they will "make it"
in America. She turns to the children and announces that they
are not leaving. The young Rodríguez remains ambivalent on
the topic.
Analysis
This first chapter is bookended with a defining episode from
Rodríguez's early life—his parents' conflict over whether to
(and final decision to) keep the family in the United States. The
reader might see Rodríguez's detachment from the matter as
an indication that he is already emotionally removed from both
his childhood surroundings and his family. In general, his family
does not have a large presence in Always Running as he gets
older. This first chapter, in fact, is the only one in which every
member of the Rodríguez family appears.
Rodríguez's experiences in elementary school seem likely to
contribute further to this sense of disengagement. Given that
he was born in 1954, this chapter roughly spans the years
between 1956 and 1963. The civil rights movement, the
decades-long effort to ensure rights for African Americans,
was still young and not as organized or powerful as it would
later become. By today's standards the school system's
treatment of Rodríguez and José René seems harsh and
unfeeling. However, given the state of education at that time
and place, the staff of an English-speaking elementary school
would likely have had few if any other options. Certainly, there
was no meaningful push to require schools to accommodate
Spanish speakers. Placing José René in a "retarded" class (the
word did not have the demeaning connotation that it does
today) and putting Rodríguez in a corner by himself would not
be considered outrageous courses of action.
The family's living situation—moving frequently and largely
isolated from the predominantly white and comparatively
privileged culture—does not seem to have offered much
opportunity for the support and stability that might have kept
Rodríguez from gang life. Overall, then, the seeds of
Rodríguez's eventual involvement in la vida loca seem to be
planted during the period of his life described here.
(Interestingly, however, the reader will see in later chapters
that José René turns out quite differently from Rodríguez.)
The troubles Rodríguez relates in flashback have made his
mother long for what she is familiar with—life in Mexico—even
though it has even less to offer them than does life in the
United States. In the end her giving in to Alfonso's decision to
stay seems largely a matter of expediency. Despite her strong
desire to return home, she realizes that a woman with four
children, bad health, few job skills, and no husband will not fare
well in their economically deprived homeland. When she
relents, the reader might wonder whether Alfonso has
successfully called her bluff or whether he is not particularly
upset by the idea of being alone. Rodríguez portrays him
throughout his memoir as largely aloof and uninvolved as a
father and husband, so either or both of these might be the
case.
Chapter 2
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Summary
Luis Rodríguez is 10. His family is living in South San Gabriel, an
unincorporated area of Los Angeles County. One dark, chilly
evening he and his friend Tino illegally jump a local elementary
school's fence for some outdoor basketball. As they play, two
sheriff's deputies pull up in a squad car and demand that the
boys come to the fence. Tino panics, afraid that the deputies
will "beat the crap out of" them. The two run as the deputies
scale the fence and give chase with their guns drawn. Tino
climbs onto the cafeteria building's roof, but Rodríguez is
caught as he tries to follow. They hear the sound of Tino's
footsteps on the roof, followed by a crash. A deputy scrambles
up to investigate and discovers that Tino has fallen through a
skylight to his death.
When Rodríguez is 11, a gang called Thee Mystics attacks his
school with bats, chains, pipes, and homemade guns. They
enter the school building itself, beating up students and
sending others (including teachers) running for cover. Police
arrive, and the attackers flee. Although the young Rodríguez is
frightened by the incident, he is also envious of the power the
gang commands and the fear it inspires.
Afterward, so-called clubs, or clicas (cliques), begin to form
among the students. Most of them—built around common
interests such as sports or cars—have no ill intent, but over
time some of them become more organized and more
dangerous. Rodríguez and some 11-year-old classmates form
one called Thee Impersonations, choosing as their leader a
successful student named Miguel Robles. Members take a
pledge of solidarity, vowing that they will always look out for
one another.
As Rodríguez finishes elementary school, his father, Alfonso,
gets a job at a Los Angeles community college. The family
moves into a two-bedroom home, and Rodríguez attends an
intermediate school with a 50-percent dropout rate. He is now
separated from the rest of Thee Impersonations and living in
"Mystics territory." He joins a gang called Animal Tribe, which in
time takes over the smaller, less powerful groups in the area
(including Thee Mystics).
Most of the teachers at Rodríguez's school are too intimidated
by the students to be effective. Rodríguez gets into trouble
frequently and is placed in a special class for troublemakers,
while at the same time his older brother, José René, comes to
excel in academics, acting, and sports. Their mother, María
Estela, falls into angry despair over the cholos (lowlifes) with
whom Rodríguez has begun to associate.
Analysis
Given that Rodríguez was born in 1954, it can be assumed that
this chapter covers events in his life between the years 1964
and 1968. His first run-in with the police, at age 10, ends
tragically. This is the first of several examples of minority
harassment by L.A. police presented in Always Running. Here,
as elsewhere, the reader can safely assume that the actions
precipitating Tino's death will go without reprimand.
Rodríguez's reaction to Thee Mystics' attack on his school—a
mix of fear and admiration—likely arises at least in part from his
detachment from and dissatisfaction with his own family life.
Research into gangs has firmly established an inherent need
on the part of young men to be accepted by a larger culture.
When families or the society at large do not sufficiently meet
that need, gangs are a likely response.
Rodríguez's description of how gangs formed in his elementary
school parallels the overall history of Chicano gangs in L.A.
Most began as social clubs or groups built around common
interests. It was only over time—and largely as a reaction to
societal alienation, poverty, and a lack of economic
options—that they came to embrace illegal and violent activity.
Rodríguez notes that the intermediate school in which he was
enrolled (at, presumably, about age 13) had a 50-percent
dropout rate. Given the school's location, the reader can
assume that Spanish was a prevalent language. Unlike the
elementary school Rodríguez attended in Chapter 1, its lack of
effectiveness did not arise from a language barrier but rather
from a lack of funding and organization. In any case, the
conditions remained ripe for Rodríguez to continue and expand
his gang involvement. At the same time, it is also worth noting
that his brother, José René, who is presumably enrolled in the
same school system, manages to not only avoid the path
Rodríguez is taking, but excel in the opposite way.
Chapter 3
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Summary
Luis Rodríguez, who has come to be called "Chin" because of
his pronounced jawbone, is hanging out at a fire-ravaged
house on a hot summer afternoon. With him are his three
camarados (partners): Clavo, Chicharrón, and Wilo. The four
are known locally as los cuatro (the four). Fellow Animal Tribe
members Little Man and Fernie López are there too. An ice
cream truck—stolen, Clavo notes, by some local Anglos—stops
on the street near them, and someone inside tosses treats to
the children who race up to it. Then it drives off.
After nightfall a beaten-up Mercury sedan containing armed
members of rival gang Sangra pulls up. Rodríguez and his
companions confront them. The clash leaves Clavo with a face
full of buckshot and a severely injured eye. An ambulance
takes him to the hospital, and Fernie declares that it is time for
a gang war.
Rodríguez then digresses into a narrative about his younger
years. After his family's move from Mexico to L.A., dozens of
their relatives relocated there as well, living with the
Rodríguezes until they found places of their own. His fondest
memories are of his "crazy" aunt, Tía Chucha, and teenage
cousin Pancho. Tía Chucha "wrote song lyrics, told stories and
recited dirty jokes," visiting the family frequently and bringing
presents. Pancho was suave and worldly and taught the
brothers (at ages 10 and 13) how to drink cheap beer, lift
weights, and dance to the music of James Brown and Sam
Cooke.
After the Sangra attack, Clavo heals pretty well, although he
has lost an eye. To cheer him up and encourage him not to
leave their gang, some friends organize a group trip to a local
beach frequented by Anglos. Clavo does not show up for the
excursion, but the rest go anyway. They park at a fairly isolated
section of the beach, where they play football, drink beer, and
smoke marijuana. After a while a van full of "white dudes" pulls
up near their cars. A confrontation ensues, and the newcomers
turn out to be police officers. Rodríguez's group is arrested,
verbally and physically assaulted, and taken to the police
station. All except one are released to their parents.
While the teenage Rodríguez is in jail, he has a conversation
with a Chicano deputy. He is told that the police intentionally
arrest preteen males on any pretext they can. The purpose of
this is to get their names, making them easier to track as they
get older. The cops, Rodríguez explains to the reader, are
basically just another gang; they even have nicknames such as
"Cowboy, Big Red, Boffo, and Maddog." They often deliberately
foment trouble among the gangs, and they are not above
participating in drug dealing themselves.
After the incident on the beach, Clavo disappears. Nobody
knows what has become of him. A teen called Yuk Yuk (after
his distinctive laugh) takes Clavo's place in los cuatro. He is
more knowledgeable about criminality than the rest of them,
having done two years in juvenile hall. He connects them to
local "key figures in the stealing business," who teach them
how to steal and strip cars and where to fence stolen bikes,
TVs, stereos, cameras, and guns. Los cuatro progresses to
burglarizing houses and from there to armed holdups of
convenience stores. An attempted heist at a drive-in's
concession stand results in Rodríguez nearly getting shot by
the proprietor, but he escapes unharmed.
Analysis
Rodríguez is 14 or 15 in this chapter, which puts the year at
1968 or 1969. His day-to-day life is built around his gang,
Animal Tribe. A threat to the gang's turf appears when
members of rival gang Sangra (the name is both a corruption
of the name of their barrio, San Gabriel, and the Spanish word
for "bleed") arrive after dark and attack them. Rodríguez's
description of the confrontation is brief, underscoring how
quickly the incident itself was. The aftermath, in which
neighbors come out of houses to scream and curse, illustrates
the trauma routinely inflicted on the residents of gang-plagued
areas. It can be observed here and elsewhere in Always
Running that the gang ethos does not include concern for
innocents who live in rival gang areas.
After describing the attack, Rodríguez reminisces about a few
happy memories from his childhood. His reasoning for inserting
this unrelated text may be to give the reader a breather after
the unpleasantness he has just described (and/or perhaps to
humanize gang members by pointing out that they too had
childhoods). At any rate, these memories reference an earlier,
happier period in his life. His fond recollections of his aunt, Tía
Chucha, spring from an appreciation of her kind nature and
independent spirit. Given the detachment of Rodríguez's
father, Alfonso, from his children, their cousin Poncho—an
older male who pays attention to Rodríguez and José René
and teaches them things—certainly appealed to the boys' need
for adult male guidance.
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Poncho's familiarity with music makes him seem worldly to the
Rodríguez boys. Rodríguez has particularly fond memories of
hearing the music of American singers James Brown
(1933–2006) and Sam Cooke (1931–64) for the first time. Both
were tremendously popular and influential 20th-century black
vocalists. (In an interesting though coincidental parallel, Brown,
like Rodríguez, clashed with the law from his teen years on and
was also, as Rodríguez would become, a civil rights activist.)
Rodríguez then returns to the aftermath of the Sangra attack,
touching again upon the LAPD's notorious harassment of
minorities. His description of the police as "just another gang"
seems disturbingly accurate given the approach they take to
their jobs. The conversation between Rodríguez and the
sheriff's deputy is likewise disturbing in its authoritarian
implications. It also dovetails with Rodríguez's experience with
the police at age 10 in Chapter 2, in which a playmate, also 10,
lost his life during a confrontation with two officers.
Clavo's replacement in los cuatro, Yuk Yuk, is highly regarded
by Rodríguez and the others in large part because doing time
is a badge of honor in gang culture. Yuk Yuk has made
connections while doing time in juvenile hall, supporting the
contention that incarceration facilities are often "schools for
crime." His networking experience enables him to guide los
cuatro's criminality to the next level, an advancement that
nearly costs Rodríguez his life.
Chapter 4
Summary
As this chapter begins, Luis Rodríguez is 14. His mother, María
Estela, tired of his clashes with the police and at school,
throws him out of the house. His friend Yuk Yuk takes him in,
but after three days Yuk Yuk's mother also demands that
Rodríguez leave. He takes a bus to downtown L.A., where for
several days he roams the streets of El Centro (Spanish
Broadway), sleeping in all-night movie theaters, abandoned
cars, and the homes of girls who allow him to sneak in through
their windows. After some time he returns home to patch
things up with his mother. She agrees to let him stay in the
garage—which has neither heat nor plumbing—provided he
does not enter the house without permission.
At 15 he is enrolled in Mark Keppel High School in Alhambra, a
city adjacent to Los Angeles. The student body there is a mix
of well-off Anglo and Asian students, who receive quality
educations, and poor Mexican students "who somehow made
it past junior high," with the latter mostly tracked into the C (or
"stupid") classes such as industrial arts.
In his garage room Rodríguez finds solace in listening to
records by artists such as American musicians Willie Bobo
(1934–83), Wilson Pickett (1941–2006), and Rufus Thomas
(1917–2001). He also manages to buy a tenor saxophone and
learn it well enough to play in a couple of local garage bands.
One day while he is practicing, his brother, José René (now 17
and called "Joe"), storms into his room. He confronts
Rodríguez about some records he has taken, and Rodríguez
responds with "Fuck you!" Enraged, Joe stomps on Rodríguez's
saxophone, ruining it. A fistfight ensues, which their father,
Alfonso, breaks it up. Joe runs from the room and disappears
for three days.
Rodríguez digresses from this incident to describe Fiesta Days,
a carnival held each summer by the San Gabriel Mission. Many
families join in the festivities, as do members of various gangs.
One year a teenage Rodríguez and his good friend Chicharrón
attend. Rodríguez meets a girl named Viviana, with whom he is
immediately smitten. It turns out that she has three brothers in
the Sangra gang (a rival of Rodríguez's gang). By midnight,
tension has started to build between the two gangs. Police
arrive as Rodríguez and Viviana make their way to the top of
the mission school building. When the fighting starts, Viviana
begs him to stay with her. He does, and the two kiss as
violence rages below them.
There is an annual, informal observance at Mark Keppel High
School called the "Tradition," which consists of "battle between
the Mexicans and Anglos." In Rodríguez's sophomore year the
conflict begins at a football game between Mark Keppel High
School and a predominantly white high school. A riot erupts
and spreads through the surrounding neighborhood. Rodríguez
has a couple of close calls but makes it home safely. The
following Monday, fighting breaks out at the school. The police
arrive and arrest several Mexican students. Although
Rodríguez is not among them, he is nonetheless expelled.
With no classes to attend and very little to do, Rodríguez takes
up sniffing, or getting high by inhaling toxic substances such as
paint and gasoline from paper bags. Once while sniffing, he
becomes engulfed in a dark, absolute stillness. When he
regains consciousness, his friends tell him that he stopped
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breathing. They refuse to let him sniff again, despite his wild
insistence that he "go back" to the state from which he has just
emerged.
During this period Rodríguez has a brief involvement with his
camarado Wilo's sister Payasa. He breaks it off with her,
however, because she is incapable of being intimate unless
she is under the influence of something. She responds with a
suicide attempt and is sent to a rehabilitation hospital. One late
night shortly thereafter—while in an altered state of
consciousness—Rodríguez himself comes very close to
slashing his own wrists but decides against it at the last
moment. The next morning his mother allows him to have
breakfast with her and his sister Gloria Estela. The mood
during the meal is light and pleasant.
Analysis
Rodríguez is 14 at the beginning of this chapter, which places
his expulsion from his home in 1968. It is worth noting that the
social infrastructure of the time and place is such that a young
teen can be thrown out and forced to fend for himself without
any sort of intervention by authorities. While his mother's
action is obviously extreme, the reader may find it at least
understandable. If nothing else, María Estela's decision—and
her subsequent one to banish Rodríguez to a cold, toilet-less
garage—displays the level of desperation she has reached with
her younger son.
Rodríguez's high school experiences follow logically from
those of his elementary and middle school years. From the
beginning, he has struggled in an educational system that
places no real importance on meeting the educational needs of
minorities. Still, the young man is not a completely lost cause.
He demonstrates in this chapter a connection with creativity
that will, in fact, eventually help him escape la vida loca. The
love of music instilled in him years earlier by his older cousin
Poncho in Chapter 3 has flowered into an appreciation for
black and Latino artists such as Willie Bobo, Wilson Pickett,
and Rufus Thomas. He has also acquired a degree of
proficiency on the saxophone, which foreshadows other
creative abilities he will discover and nurture within himself as
he grows older.
His expulsion from his high school in the wake of "Tradition"
violence (as part of a larger singling out of minority students
for punishment) is yet another indication of the biased system
in which he is expected to function. (Later, in Chapter 6, he
briefly mentions enrollment at a "last stop" facility called
Continuation High School, from which he is expelled his first
day for fighting.) His subsequent near-fatal retreat into sniffing
is a gesture of utter despair, as is his contemplation of suicide.
The pleasant breakfast he shares with his mother and sister at
the end of the chapter is jarring, coming as it does after his
near decision to kill himself just the night before.
San Gabriel Mission, which hosts the Fiesta Days at which
Rodríguez meets Viviana, is a historical landmark in what is
today the city of San Gabriel. A still-functioning Catholic
church founded in 1771 by St. Junípero Serra (1713–84), it has
long served as a community meeting place and center for the
arts. The reader may view it as a symbol of the Catholic
establishment and of the centrality of the Catholic Church in
Mexican/Chicano culture, although religion seems to have no
real presence in Rodríguez's life.
Chapter 5
Summary
By the time Luis Rodríguez is 15, his gang—the Animal
Tribe—has been decimated by murders and arrests among its
leadership. Another gang, called Lomas (named for the barrio
in which it formed), has arisen to fill the void. Rodríguez
decides to join, and his initiation party is hosted by a pretty,
popular girl named Nina. The evening starts pleasantly enough,
with Nina's mother making tacos and cooking beans for the
attendees. As the hours pass, however, drugs and alcohol give
the gathering a tenser, more ominous tone. Older, hardened
veteranos (veteran gang members) arrive. They are led by a
small, muscular man called Puppet, who was convicted of
murder at 16.
Rodríguez is the first to be initiated. He is walked to the
driveway and violently punched and kicked by several gang
members. Afterward, he is invited to participate in the beatings
of the other initiates, but he declines. Then the new members
are driven around in a pickup truck until they come upon a
parked 1952 Chrysler DeSoto. Four men are inside, drinking
beer and listening to music. The pickup's occupants pile out
and bash the car and its occupants with tire irons and two-by-
fours. At Puppet's urging, Rodríguez plunges a screwdriver into
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the DeSoto's driver.
Community centers, guidance and counseling facilities, and
social programs begin to sprout up in response to the area's
widespread gang violence. When Rodríguez is 16, he befriends
a community center worker named Chente Ramírez. Ramírez,
who is in his late 20s, grew up in an East L.A. barrio but
managed to avoid gang involvement. He is college-educated
and has a long history of community organization work and a
proficiency in martial arts. Rodríguez instinctively looks up to
him.
One night, in retaliation for the murder of Lomas member Little
Man, Rodríguez helps firebomb the family home of a Sangra
member named Chava. With him are fellow Lomas members
Santos, Daddio, Beto, and Pokie. Rodríguez is uneasy at the
thought of possibly killing someone's mother or little sister or
brother, but the gang's code dictates that he cannot refuse to
do a hit if asked. All five of the house's occupants escape the
attack, but the house is destroyed.
Police helicopters become "a nightly annoyance," as do
random hassles by the police. Gang members shoot out
streetlights and hang out in bushes and abandoned buildings.
Rape, including gang rape, becomes a common feature of
Lomas life. Some members and their families leave the area to
escape the violence, including Rodríguez's friend Wilo (and his
sister Payasa, with whom Rodríguez once had a brief
involvement and whose suicide attempt may have prompted
Rodríguez's own). However, the Rodríguez family remains.
Rodríguez begins a passionate affair with a girl named
Roberta. He finds out, however, that she is turning tricks to pay
for a place to live and to help finance her sister's heroin habit.
He also discovers to his dismay that his friend Chicharrón is
pimping for her. Not long afterward, a junkie acquaintance
called Smokey sets Rodríguez up with his first fix of heroin.
Rodríguez finds the drug very pleasurable and feels as though
he has been initiated into yet another fraternity—"this
fellowship of la carga, so integral to 'la vida loca.'"
Analysis
Rodríguez's age at the beginning of this chapter—15, the same
at which he attends the first of three high schools from which
he is either expelled or quits—places its events in 1969 and
1970. The ascendance of Lomas to replace the defunct Animal
Tribe demonstrates the key role gangs play in Rodríguez's
subculture. The reader might think back to Chapter 2, when
Rodríguez joined/formed his first gang (Thee Impersonations)
at age 11. At that point membership in a "gang," although a
disturbing rehearsal for the real thing, was little more than
playacting. Now, however, Rodríguez is older, and la vida loca is
far more serious and deadly. Lomas's leader, Puppet, is a
veterano who has done time for murder. Both the crime and
the time confer upon him a high status within gang culture.
Rodríguez will later challenge Puppet's authority, with
unpleasant results.
The integration of gangs into everyday barrio life is further
demonstrated by Rodríguez's initiation. The ceremony is
hosted by a pretty, respected girl named Nina, whose mother
cooks food for the gang. When the veteranos arrive and things
get ugly, Nina's mother becomes concerned (and it is hard to
believe that Nina herself did not know what was coming). Still,
the woman does not call the police when the initiation begins in
her own driveway, a sign of the fear-based "respect" that
residents of gang-plagued areas have for gangs.
The gang mindset is one in which violence is the currency of
human interaction. Rodríguez both submits to it and inflicts it
upon others in order to gain acceptance. No thought is given to
its effects on those outside the gang. The reader is not told
whether the DeSoto driver survives being stabbed by a
screwdriver, and it is likely that Rodríguez does not even know.
Similarly, Rodríguez takes part in a retaliatory "hit" against the
Sangra member who murdered his longtime friend Little Man,
knowing that he may be killing innocents, including children. His
capacity for empathy will eventually help motivate him to leave
gang life, but at this point his devotion to the gang and its rules
still trumps all.
Like so many things in his life, Rodríguez's brief relationship
with Roberta proves to be a failed attempt at fulfillment. The
dysfunction within both Rodríguez himself and the society
around him ensures this. The fact that his friendship with
Chicharrón survives Chicharrón's selling Roberta for sex
illustrates the gang code of loyalty above all. It is also indicative
of a casual misogyny in gang culture (as are the rapes by
Lomas members referenced in this chapter). Rodríguez's
initiation into heroin use seems almost inevitable at this point,
given his earlier embrace of sniffing; in fact, the reader may
wonder why it did not happen sooner.
Rodríguez's lack of interaction with his own father, Alfonso,
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might help explain why he is drawn to community center
worker Chente Ramírez. There is evidence throughout Always
Running that Rodríguez has both a humane, sensitive nature
and a hungry mind. Given this, it is only natural that he would
respond positively to an educated, comparatively successful
man such as Ramírez, who does in fact eventually help
Rodríguez transition to a new and less dangerous life.
Chapter 6
Summary
Luis Rodríguez's mother, María Estela, is concerned about her
16-year-old son, who is at loose ends since being expelled
from Mark Keppel High School. She enlists the aid of Mr.
Rothro, a former principal at Rodríguez's elementary school.
Rothro visits Rodríguez in the family garage, where Rodríguez
lives at his mother's insistence, and offers to do what he can to
help. He asks about Rodríguez's old Underwood typewriter,
and Rodríguez tells him he is writing a book about "what I've
seen, what I feel, about the people around me. You
know—things."
Afterward, Rodríguez's father, Alfonso, takes Rodríguez with
him to the college at which he works and enrolls him in nearby
Taft High School. This means a new routine for the teen—up at
4:30 each morning, classes during the day, hanging out at the
college library until Alfonso is off work, and returning home
after dark. As the only Mexican at Taft, Rodríguez stands out.
He is not permitted to take the classes in which he is
interested (such as photography, art, and literature) because
he does not have the necessary prerequisites. He does
manage to get into an English literature class but is told to
leave after an argument with the teacher. One day he attacks a
student he thinks is talking about him. Several teachers are
needed to pull him off the boy, and the school designates him
as "violent and uncontrollable." Then there is a two-month
teachers' strike. When school resumes, Rodríguez does not
return. His exposure to literature while attending Taft has
whetted his taste for reading, however. He makes frequent use
of L.A.'s libraries, exposing himself to the works of classic
British and American writers.
One evening as Christmas approaches, Rodríguez's friend
Chicharrón and another young man named Arnie visit him in his
garage room. The three go out together and eat at a nice
restaurant. When the bill arrives it becomes obvious that Arnie
is expected to pay, but he has no money. Chicharrón and Arnie
slip out, but Rodríguez is detained by "two Frankensteins."
They take him to the restaurant's back office, where a
manager named Charles Kearney tells him that he has called
the police. He asks Rodríguez why he ordered and ate a meal
without paying, and Rodríguez replies that he was hungry and
had no money. He adds that he does not like jail or being
beaten by cops, but "[t]hat's the way of the neighborhood."
A police officer nicknamed Cowboy, whom Rodríguez knows,
arrives. His contempt for Chin (Rodríguez) is obvious, and
Kearny decides not to press charges. Cowboy becomes angry
and storms out. Kearny tells Rodríguez to go and never return
to his restaurant. Rodríguez thanks him and leaves. Outside he
meets Chicharrón, who is holding a metal pipe. (Arnie has fled.)
Chicharrón tells Rodríguez that he had planned to attack
Cowboy when they came out of the restaurant. The two leave
the scene, fearful that Cowboy will return.
The following summer, Chente Ramírez, a community organizer
whom Rodríguez has befriended, offers Rodríguez a job
cleaning up and maintaining local public parks and alleys. The
catch is that he must also return to school in the fall. Rodríguez
stays busy with the job during the day and with volunteer work
on evenings and weekends. He also takes up boxing under the
tutelage of local boxing club owner Daniel Fuentes (and
sponsored by Rubén Navarro, a successful featherweight).
Rodríguez's mother (María Estela), brother (José René (Joe)),
and sisters (Ana Virginia and Gloria Estela), show up to watch
his first bout. He loses, injuring his nose badly in the process.
When he sees his mother afterward, he can tell she has been
crying.
Sometime later, Rodríguez's friends Yuk Yuk and Daddio drink
several pints of tequila and steal a car. It begins to rain as they
drunkenly attempt to rob a convenience store. Someone
shoots at them, and they flee. Police cars and a helicopter
pursue them, and they reach 120 miles per hour before
crashing. The medical examiner describes their remains as
"nearly disintegrated."
Rodríguez begins attending a study group called the Collective,
led by Ramírez. Members study and discuss the "dynamics of
social revolution." The location is a secret, and the real names
of the participants are not spoken over the telephone. At
Rodríguez's fourth or fifth session—he is not certain which—he
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is hallucinating and unable to connect with what is being
discussed. It is obvious to everyone that something is wrong,
and after the meeting Chente demands to know what.
Rodríguez admits he has taken drugs, and Chente tells him
that he must choose between succumbing to insanity or
working for a better world.
Analysis
Rodríguez is 16 in this chapter, which places the narrative in
the year 1970. Notably, this chapter is the only point in Always
Running where Rodríguez mentions either of his parents
making a proactive attempt to help him. The meeting between
Mr. Rothro and Rodríguez reminds the reader that the young
Rodríguez has an active mind and a pronounced creative
streak. His attempt at writing a meaningful book (a very early
version of Always Running, it seems) parallels his pursuit of the
saxophone in Chapter 4. Later, he will explore and achieve
success in other avenues of artistic expression.
Rodríguez's father, Alfonso, takes an active role in raising his
son for virtually the only time in the book, setting him up in a
decent high school after his expulsion from Mark Keppel in
Chapter 4. Rodríguez's interest in bettering himself is strong
enough that he agrees to a routine that goes from before dawn
to after dark in order to resume taking classes. In what has
become a pattern, however, Rodríguez's attempt at formal
education is thwarted both by an inadequate system and by his
own inability to keep his temper in check. Still, it is his choice to
not return to Taft High School after the teachers' strike.
The episode in the restaurant again demonstrates the LAPD's
flawed approach to handling minority crime, as do the violent
deaths of Rodríguez's friends Yuk Yuk and Daddio. In Chapter
3 Rodríguez describes the police as "just another gang,"
adding, "We even give them names. There's Cowboy, Big Red,
Boffo and Maddog." In this chapter he encounters Cowboy,
whose contempt for him and intent to harm him are so obvious
that the restaurant manager from whom Rodríguez has stolen
takes pity on the teen (much to Cowboy's resentment). Yuk
Yuk and Daddio do not fare as well in their encounter with the
law; the high-speed chase in the rain ends in their deaths.
Community organizer and activist Chente Ramírez emerges in
this chapter, as earlier, as a ray of hope for Rodríguez. Here,
Ramírez gives Rodríguez the chance to take on legitimate work
and return to school. He also helps connect Rodríguez with a
local amateur boxing program, which gives Rodríguez the
opportunity to channel his aggressive tendencies in a more
socially acceptable direction. The fact that all of the Rodríguez
family (except Alfonso) come to watch his first bout indicates
that they are still willing to support any effort at self-
improvement, despite all that has happened.
The reader might have misgivings about another aspect of
Rodríguez's relationship with Ramírez—his involvement with
the Collective, a secretive revolutionary group. On the other
hand, the group's confidentiality might be justified as a rational
reaction to the local authorities'—the LAPD, in
particular—organized and consistent efforts to keep L.A.'s
minority communities in their place.
Chapter 7
Summary
It is August 29, 1970, and Luis Rodríguez is 16. He is marching
in the Chicano Moratorium march, a protest against U.S.
involvement in Vietnam. He hooks up with Cuervo and Eight
Ball, two fellow Lomas gang members. The three of
them—after taking some reds (amphetamines) and stealing
and drinking some beer—make their way to East L.A.'s Laguna
Park, where there is a violent confrontation with the police.
Rodríguez is arrested, taken to the Los Angeles County Jail,
and placed with hardcore offenders in a cell on "murderer's
row" (next door to Charles Manson). The incarcerated men
learn from the radio that Chicano journalist and activist Rubén
Salazar (1928–70) has been killed in the conflict, and there is
an uproar. For several days Rodríguez's parents try to get him
released, showing up for several scheduled hearings only to
discover that they are canceled. Late one night, he is finally
released to his mother. He tells her he is not a criminal. She
says that she knows this.
Rodríguez then inserts a brief history of L.A. civil rights
protests from the mid-1960s to 1970. Energized by the 1965
Watts Rebellion, Chicano activists organized activist groups of
their own. "Defense organizations" based on alliances such as
the Black Panthers formed on college campuses and in
prisons. Rodríguez shares that in 1967, when he was 13, he
participated in a citywide school walkout. Unfortunately, only
he and one other student in his particular school did so.
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Rodríguez received a day's suspension from school and recalls
the incident today as his "first conscious political act."
Soon after Rodríguez's release from jail, he attends a teen
dance. There he runs into Viviana, a girl with whom he had a
brief encounter two years before (and whose brothers Coyote,
Negro, and Shark belong to rival gang Sangra). The two begin
a romance, and he falls in love with her. One night, they have
sex on her front porch. Afterward, she insists that he leave,
and she avoids his subsequent phone calls. A month or so later
he sees her at another teen gathering. They reacquaint
themselves and share a long, passionate kiss, after which she
tells him she must leave for a moment. She does not return,
and when he goes to look for her, he finds her making out with
another guy.
Mark Keppel High School (the one from which Rodríguez was
expelled two years previously) allows him to return. He is now
17. Although about 40 percent of the school is Chicano, Anglo
students are the primary organizers of and participants in
student activities. Chicano students form their own clubs, with
the help of mostly Chicano faculty and part-time assistants.
They launch plans to combat the physical deterioration of the
school building and to better integrate Chicano students into
the overall social fabric of the school.
Mrs. Baez, home-school coordinator for the Chicano groups,
asks Rodríguez and his female classmate Esme to try out for
the roles of school mascots Joe and Josephine Aztec, which
are routinely taken by Anglo students. With the help of Señor
Franco, a folklore expert from a local college, the two students
prepare an authentic Aztec dance routine. When the tryouts
are held, they win the competition. Flush with success,
Rodríguez and Esme start a theater group, for which
Rodríguez writes plays that portray the struggles of Chicanos
in L.A.
Against Mrs. Baez's advice the Chicano students organize a
walkout to demand a Chicano studies class, more Chicano
teachers, and more funding for maintaining school facilities.
Some 300 students participate. The principal, Mr. Madison, is
extremely upset. Mrs. Baez tells him that while she does not
support their tactics, she thinks he should listen to them. Mr.
Madison calls an assembly; after some heated discussion, he
agrees to their demands.
A few nights after the walkout, Rodríguez attends a party that
turns into a confrontation with a group of Anglo bikers called
the Sinisters. Rodríguez borrows a rifle from a local
acquaintance named Roger Nelson, and a group of Lomas
members attack the bikers' headquarters. As they do battle,
Rodríguez shoots a large biker in the buttocks. The Lomas
members flee, and the police hunt them down and arrest them.
Rodríguez and two others are charged with assault with intent
to commit murder.
Analysis
In this chapter Rodríguez's longtime political awareness,
shaped most recently by his involvement in the Collective in
Chapter 6, crosses the line into action. His participation in the
Chicano protes against the Vietnam War results in his violent
arrest. This thuggish treatment of Chicanos, as Rodríguez
demonstrates throughout Always Running, is outrageously
typical. Rodríguez points out that this routine abuse of
authority is what brought about the 1965 Watts riots, which in
turn resulted in the formation of the Black Panthers and other
minority-led defense organizations.
Although Rodríguez has been arrested several times, this
experience proves more severe than any of his previous
detentions. He is placed in an area intended for adult suspects,
in a cell with angry, brutal men charged with murder and rape.
His next-cell neighbor is infamous cult leader Charles Manson
(1934–2017), the nation's most notorious criminal at the time,
who is on trial for his role in the ritual murder of seven
socialites. Placing the young Rodríguez in this environment is
both illegal and dangerous. The severely flawed nature of the
L.A. justice system is further demonstrated by the difficulty
Rodríguez's parents experience in arranging a hearing to get
him released.
While Rodríguez is incarcerated, he and his fellow detainees
learn of the death of Rubén Salazar (1928–70) at the Laguna
Park demonstration. Salazar was a reporter for the Los
Angeles Times and the first mainstream journalist to cover
L.A.'s Chicano community. He was killed when he was struck
by a tear gas canister fired by an L.A. police officer. The
circumstances of his death sparked outrage among Chicanos
and civil-rights leaders. (Laguna Park has since been renamed
Rubén Salazar Park in his honor.)
Rodríguez takes his newly rekindled political awareness with
him when he returns to Mark Keppel High School. Along with
the other Chicano students, he is justifiably outraged at the
lack of Chicano representation in student activities (given that
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40 percent of the school is Chicano). Luckily, there have been
changes in the school since his expulsion that provide a voice
for Chicano students. Rodríguez now has a chance to focus his
anger—as advised by Chente Ramírez, leader of the
Collective—in ways that will make a meaningful difference.
Writing and performing plays with a self-formed Chicano
theater group is one way he does this. His organization of a
school walkout to demand more attention to Chicano needs
and interests is another.
Just as he is discovering true, constructive purpose to his life,
however, his continued association with Lomas and devotion to
la vida loca set him back yet again. His participation in armed
conflict with a gang of Anglo bikers, one of whom he shoots
with a rifle, leaves him in danger of doing serious jail time.
Chapter 8
Summary
Luis Rodríguez is in jail at 17 for assault with intent to commit
murder, after shooting an Anglo biker during a gang-related
confrontation. In the next cell is Night Owl, a member of
Sangra (a rival gang of Rodríguez's own Lomas). At first the
two trade threats and insults, but gradually their conversation
becomes more cordial. Rodríguez asks whether Night Owl
knows Viviana, a girl with Sangra ties with whom Rodríguez has
recently been romantically involved. Night Owl replies that
everyone has heard of her, that she "fucked around with some
dude on her porch while her brothers were inside watching."
Rodríguez realizes that he himself is that dude but does not let
on. Night Owl tells him that she is pregnant.
Chente Ramírez, a community organizer who has helped
Rodríguez in the past, visits and tells Rodríguez that local
Chicano activists are working to get him out of jail. A day later,
Rodríguez is released to his parents, Alfonso and María Estela.
He shakes Night Owl's hand through the bars on his way out.
He is allowed to return to his school—Mark Keppel High
School—where Mrs. Baez expresses her disappointment in
him. He gives her a folder filled with his poems and stories.
At the trial the bikers refuse to identify Rodríguez or Lomas as
their attackers. Instead, they accuse Roger Nelson (who
loaned Rodríguez the rifle used in the attack but was not
himself there). It turns out that they have had a long-standing
beef with Nelson and his family and are lying in an attempt to
have him locked up. Rodríguez testifies on Nelson's behalf and
is acquitted.
When summer arrives, Ramírez sets up Rodríguez as
supervisor of a community-sponsored mural project. Rodríguez
knows little about murals, but local successful artists teach him
the process. Although most business owners decline to let his
team decorate their buildings, some do not. He becomes
acquainted with renowned L.A. muralists Willie Herrón, Judith
Baca, and Gronk and is excited about this new world that is
opening up to him.
Miguel Robles, a friend of Rodríguez's from his earliest gang
days, has stayed out of trouble over the years. He excels at
sports and is respected for his leadership skills in his high
school's Mexican American Student Organization (MASO).
One night he is drinking with some friends in front of his home.
Two sheriff's deputies stop and order the teens to line up.
When Miguel's brother, Mooney Robles, comes out of the
house to investigate, one of the deputies recognizes him as
having an outstanding warrant. Mooney runs back into his
house. A deputy chases him inside, where Miguel's mother,
father, and sister are also home. The deputy shoots Mooney,
grazing his ear. Miguel runs in and jumps on the deputy, who
throws him onto the sofa and shoots him. Everyone in the
house is then arrested.
Miguel is in critical condition, and the incident sparks outrage
and protests. The community demands that the deputy, Fred J.
Coates, be brought to justice. A treaty is negotiated between
the Lomas and Sangra gangs. During the celebration that
follows, however, the news breaks that Miguel has died and
that Deputy Coates will face a murder charge. Tensions run
high, and police surveillance in the barrio is stepped up. A few
nights later, a police helicopter is taken down by a "powerful
projectile." Similar incidents, including bombings, result in large
areas of the city being placed on alert.
Then one afternoon, as Lomas member Santos visits a friend
named Indio on the latter's front porch, both are killed in a
drive-by shooting. Nobody claims responsibility, but it is
rumored to be the work of rival gang Sangra. Lomas leader
Puppet plans a retaliatory strike, with more
weaponry—handguns, shotguns, rifles, automatics, and hand
grenades—than Rodríguez has ever seen. Rodríguez makes a
plea for restraint. Puppet punches him in the mouth and
declares, "We move on Sangra tonight."
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Analysis
This chapter picks up where Chapter 7 left off, in 1971, when
Rodríguez is 17. A few months earlier, he had his first serious
brush with the law when he was arrested at the Chicano
Moratorium march, a protest against U.S. involvement in
Vietnam. That experience has not prompted him to adopt a
lower profile; on the contrary, it has emboldened him. This
might be seen as a manifestation of the gang ethos that sees
doing time as a badge of honor. Rodríguez has become a force
to be reckoned with at his school, winning the position of
school mascot and staging a walkout that resulted in more
attention to the needs of Chicano students. At the same time,
he has not shaken off his gang mentality or ended those
affiliations, and his loyalty to Lomas has prompted an
act—assault with a firearm—that has resulted in another arrest,
this time on even more serious charges.
Rodríguez's interaction with Night Owl while he is incarcerated
has a humorous element in that he finds out why Viviana broke
up with him so abruptly in Chapter 7. (The possibility that she
may be pregnant with his child is left unexplored.) Their
bonding—which culminates in a goodbye handshake—also
reminds the reader of their basic humanity, despite their
posturing and embracing of violence.
The reader also sees in this chapter that activist involvement
(represented here by Chente Ramírez and Mrs. Baez) can
make a real difference in the lives of disadvantaged teens.
Ramírez is instrumental in getting Rodríguez out of jail and
back into school, even though he disapproves of the actions
that resulted in the arrest. Similarly, Mrs. Baez (who has been a
positive force in the lives of the school's Chicano students in
general) provides Rodríguez with a critical take on his actions
without rejecting him. The fact that Rodríguez responds to the
firm, caring input of grownups is evidenced by the fact that
even after Baez reprimands him, he is comfortable enough with
her to give her his writing to examine.
The reader might see Rodríguez's acquittal on the charge of
assault with intent to commit murder as simply dumb luck.
There is certainly enough evidence to convict him, and he is
only spared jail time because of what might be called the
internal politics of the biker gang. Associations among gangs
(as well the interaction of members within gangs) are
presented throughout Always Running as long running and very
complex. In this particular instance, those associations worked
to Rodríguez's benefit, an outcome that is generally not the
case.
Chente Ramírez's dedication to nurturing Rodríguez is further
evidenced here when he connects the teen to a community
mural project. Although Rodríguez demonstrates no technical
aptitude for visual art, Ramírez senses Rodríguez's creative
potential when he sees the walls of the young man's garage
room. The muralists Rodríguez mentions—Willie Herrón (b.
1951), Judith Baca (b. 1946), and Gronk (b. 1954)—have largely
made their names with art that supports progressive political
reform. This also doubtless plays a role in Ramírez's decision
to expose Rodríguez to that milieu.
Miguel Robles, the leader of Rodríguez's very first gang, Thee
Impersonations, who went on to extract himself from gang life,
dies because of the actions of an overzealous LAPD deputy.
The reader is reminded again of Rodríguez's observation in
Chapter 3 that the police are "just another gang." The reader
may also note that Miguel's brother Mooney has not kept out
of trouble, a situation that parallels that of Rodríguez and his
brother José René. It is obvious by now that a young L.A.
Chicano male is as likely to wind up dead in a confrontation
with the police as he is in a gang clash. Robles's death at the
hands of Deputy Coates results in increased attacks on
officers and a truce between Lomas and Sangra.
In what has become a pattern in Always Running, Rodríguez's
surroundings again threaten to drag him away from the clear,
constructive focus he is acquiring. The truce between the two
gangs is short-lived when Lomas member Santos and a friend
of his are murdered, apparently by Sangra members. By the
end of the chapter the violence inherent in L.A. gang life has
set the stage for a potentially horrific encounter between the
two gangs. At the same time, Rodríguez's loyalty to la vida loca
ensures his involvement in any upcoming conflict.
Chapter 9
Summary
Luis Rodríguez is now in his senior year at Mark Keppel High
School. Still a member of the Lomas gang, he is also president
of ToHMAS (To Help Mexican American Students, a Chicano
student group), the student council's speaker of the house, and
a columnist for the school newspaper. One day, a female
member of ToHMAS, called Cha Cha, tells him that the history
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teacher, Mr. Humes, has just thrown her out of class for being
late, calling her a "chola (lowlife) whore." Rodríguez storms to
Humes's classroom with several students following him. He
confronts Humes in front of his class, and Humes orders him to
leave. When Rodríguez refuses, Humes goes to see Mr.
Madison, the principal.
Word gets out quickly about the incident, and someone
slashes the tires of Humes's car. Fights between Chicano and
Anglo students begin breaking out throughout the school. The
student council establishes a group of 60 Chicano and Anglo
students (Rodríguez among them) called the Communicators.
Its purpose is to roam the hallways and resolve differences
among students.
Three days later, Rodríguez attempts to separate two fighting
students. He is hit in the face with a soda can filled with sand,
and his lower lip is split open. The doctor at the clinic asks him
whether he attends Keppel High School. When he says he
does, she tells him that since he is tough, she will not use an
anesthetic as she stitches his lip. This angers Rodríguez, but
he says nothing. He returns to school, where the students are
staging a spontaneous walkout to protest his injury. Speaking
at the top of the school steps, he declares that the battle must
continue until it is won.
A short time later, the school fires print-shop teacher Mr.
Perez, a favorite among the Chicano students. Rodríguez
declares that they will conduct a walkout until Perez is rehired.
Mr. Madison counters the plan by holding a special assembly at
the time the walkout is scheduled to occur. As Madison speaks
about the need for cooperation and harmony, Rodríguez
realizes that this is all occurring because of him. He ponders
how far he has come since his elementary school days, when
he had been placed in a corner and given blocks to play with.
Home-school coordinator Mrs. Baez is impressed by some
poems and stories that Rodríguez has given her to read. She
helps him prepare his work and enter it into a literary contest
that a Chicano press in Berkeley is running. Around the same
time, a local state college offers him a grant to attend, and an
art professor at Loyola-Marymount University gives him a paid
job painting a mural. A few weeks later, he is informed that his
entry for the literary contest has won him a $250 prize and a
publishing contract.
He graduates from high school but does not attend the
ceremony. In the fall of 1972 he begins college, majoring in
broadcast journalism and Chicano studies. He works on a
book, tentatively entitled Barrio Expressions. He also joins a
Chicano outreach group called MEChA and travels to local
high schools to talk with students. On one of these excursions
he meets a "cute, Filipina-looking, curly-haired, dark-eyed
student" named Camila Martinez. He begins to fall for her,
which is complicated by the fact that he is already seeing a few
other women. One of them, Terry, tells him that she is pregnant
and that the baby is his. He does not want to become a father
when there are so many promising things happening in his life,
and he tells her that she should have an abortion. She
becomes very upset and runs off. He never sees her again and
never learns whether she had a child or ,if so, whether it was
really his. Throughout it all his involvement with Camila
deepens.
One night, Rodríguez comes upon a couple of deputies beating
a woman as they arrest her. He attempts to intervene and is
likewise assaulted and taken in. The two are booked, and as a
bus takes them to the county jail, he learns that her name is
Licha Rubalcava. She is 27 with three children, married to a
man who is doing time.
They appear together at their preliminary hearing; she is
charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, while he
is charged with disorderly conduct and assaulting an officer.
Both are required to post bail, but only Rodríguez manages to
do so. When he visits Licha at the Sybil Brand Institute for
Women, she tells him she has attempted suicide. He promises
to help her and raises money for her bail. The two of them are
scheduled for a second court hearing together. Rodríguez
obtains a number of letters from high school teachers, college
professors, and education coordinators, pleading on his behalf.
He finds out that the publisher contracted to put out his book
has put it on hold. When his trial date arrives, his public
defender advises him to take a plea deal. He does not want to
since he considers himself not guilty, but he relents at the last
moment. He is convicted of drunk and disorderly conduct,
fined, and sentenced to a few months in county jail. When he is
released, Licha is waiting for him. He goes home with her, and
they make love. Within a month, however, she is no longer
interested in continuing the relationship. He is too young for
her, she says.
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Analysis
Rodríguez is in his senior year of high school, which places the
beginning of this chapter's narrative in 1971. The two major
elements of his life—involvement in Lomas and activist politics
at his school—might seem incongruous to the reader. In
Rodríguez's eyes, however, at least at this point, it is likely that
his gang membership is an offshoot of his overall political
activism. Both his school and gang activities, after all, involve
an assertion of his own identity (as a Chicano living in the
barrio of Las Lomas) and the protection and advancement of
those in his group. It is also undeniable that much of the
difference between his approaches in school and on the street
is predicated on the differences in the environments
themselves. After all, he neither stages a walkout to protest the
police assault on Licha nor responds violently to the history
teacher calling Cha Cha a "whore."
It is equally obvious that Rodríguez is far more effective in
effecting change in his academic surroundings than he is on
the street. The reader may reasonably infer that as Rodríguez
becomes more adept at working "within the system," the
untenability of the simplistically violent methods of la vida loca
is becoming plainer to him. (The reader may recall his run-in
with Puppet at the end of Chapter 8, where his measured
attempt to avoid violence is met with a punch in the face.) The
stark contrast between the two compartments of his life and
their basic incompatibility will be terrifyingly driven home to him
in the next and final chapter.
His involvement in the Communicators further illustrates his
growing penchant for negotiating resolutions to conflict.
Despite this, or maybe because of it, he gets his lip split when
he tries to break up a fight. The choice by the clinic's doctor to
stitch his lip without anesthesia seems deliberately
provocative, yet in macho gangster fashion, Rodríguez submits
to the unnecessary pain without a whimper (answering the
doctor's implicit challenge).
Another aspect of the "macho" ethic—womanizing—seems to
largely define him in this chapter, even as he actively works to
pursue his goals and improve his life. He falls for Camila (who
will, in fact, become his first wife) while at the same time
"seeing" several other women, and he is also disinclined to
start a family, as indicated by his reaction to Terry's
announcement that he has gotten her pregnant. When she
becomes upset at his suggestion that she get an abortion and
vanishes, Rodríguez is left with the possibility that he has
fathered at least two children he will never know.
Additionally, none of this keeps him from becoming involved
with Licha after attempting to save her from a beating by
police (and getting arrested and doing time as a result). His
short relationship with her runs a similar course to the one he
had with Viviana in Chapter 7; both culminate in sex, followed
by the woman breaking it off for little or no stated reason. The
reader might conclude that the married Licha used Rodríguez
to fill a desperate need for support, whereas Viviana likely
dumped him for reasons having to do with the Sangra
membership of her brothers.
Chapter 10
Summary
Luis Rodríguez drops out of college at 19, deciding that he can
educate himself by reading as time and opportunity permit. He
starts refusing drugs offered him by his fellow Lomas
members, and some of his homies follow suit. Then, one day as
he is walking down a street, a car containing four Lomas
members drives by and shoots at him. He is unharmed and
realizes afterward that the incident was a warning.
Shaken by the experience, he decides at last that it is time to
leave la vida loca. He contacts local community activist Chente
Ramírez, who helps him move to a federally subsidized hideout
in nearby San Pedro. On his way to the hideout he visits a local
cemetery and thinks of the burials he has attended there. He
leaves before his grief overwhelms him.
In the period surrounding Rodríguez's departure, an influx of
PCP (angel dust) decimates much of South San Gabriel. Local
activism diminishes; the community centers, food co-ops,
dropout schools, and day care centers close down. A jury finds
Deputy Fred J. Coates—on trial for the shooting death of
Rodríguez's friend Miguel Robles in Chapter 8—innocent of all
charges. Puppet, leader of the Lomas gang, is shot during an
argument with a couple of Mexican immigrants; he survives.
After leaving the hideout, Rodríguez lives in various parts of
L.A. At age 20 he marries Camila Martinez, his girlfriend of two
years. They have a child. Sometime later, while he is attending
a dance, Chava (a member of Sangra, Lomas's rival gang)
approaches him. Chava was knifed by eight Lomas members
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years before and mistakenly believes that Rodríguez was
among them. Two younger men emerge to support Chava, who
shows his knife scars and declares, "Someone has to pay for
this!" Rodríguez implores Chava to let go of his hate and then
hugs him. Chava cries and walks away, accompanied by his
two companions.
Analysis
In this final chapter of Always Running, Rodríguez effectively
completes his transition from gangster to activist. His
relationship with local Chicano advocate Chente Ramírez has
taught Rodríguez methods by which conflict can be resolved
and progress achieved nonviolently. Those methods stand in
sharp contrast to the ways of Lomas, which never
accomplished anything but the perpetuation of a cycle of
violence, heartbreak, and death.
The toxic nature of gang involvement is further underscored by
the fact that Rodríguez cannot simply quit Lomas without the
danger of (likely fatal) retaliation. He must now hide from those
for whom he would have once given his life. Here, the reader
might again note the value of activism in battling gang culture,
as Ramírez finds him shelter in a housing project some 35
miles from San Gabriel. Still, even though Rodríguez has
broken free, the possibility of his past catching up to him
remains; his sad and chilling encounter with Chava years later
demonstrates that he must continue to look over his shoulder
for a very long time.
It speaks to the depth of Rodríguez's devotion to Lomas that it
takes a threat to his life by his fellow gang members to make
him comprehend the nihilistic nature of his life with them
(although his conflict with Puppet in Chapter 8 foreshadowed
this realization). The fact that his fellow gang members turn on
him when he distances himself from drugs and influences
others to do the same is also telling, a demonstration of how
strongly a gang's self-identity is based upon the arrogant
pursuit of illegal behavior.
Rodríguez has achieved a degree of personal salvation at this
point—although his later struggles with addiction and personal
relationships are described in the book's preface, new
introduction, and epilogue. However, the same cannot be said
of the barrio from which he came. The scourge of PCP takes
its toll on the youth of South San Gabriel following Rodríguez's
departure, so overpowering that even the social service
infrastructure in the area mostly disappears. Rather than cast it
as a reason for giving up, however, Rodríguez's dedication to
his cause prompts him to interpret the developments as a
further call to arms.
It should be reiterated that in a sense, Rodríguez's core
concerns have not really changed throughout Always Running.
He has always been motivated by what he thinks will benefit
his culture as he sees it. During his time in la vida loca, that
culture was his gang (defined by his territory), a replacement
for a family and for a society that did not meet his needs or the
needs of those like him. Under Ramírez's influence, however,
his culture has become the Chicano people as a whole. It is
from this angle that he goes on to pursue decades of poetry,
writing, and social activism.
Epilogue
Summary
Luis Rodríguez begins the epilogue to Always Running by
declaring that the book is a gift to his teenage son, Ramiro. He
recounts the riots he has seen in his life, the most recent of
which at the time of the writing were the violent uprisings that
occurred in Los Angeles in the wake of the Rodney King
(1965–2012) verdict. He believes the stage for those riots was
set in large part by mass unemployment and by the routine
brutality of the L.A. police department toward racial minorities.
Rodríguez then relates the efforts by L.A.'s two largest
gangs—the Bloods and the Crips—to unite after the King
verdict and work for societal improvement. Their joint attempt
to make peace and do good, Rodríguez says, was thwarted by
the violent overreaction of police and federal authorities to
their new alliance. He dismisses authorities' stated fears of
gangs attacking them, pointing out that at the time of the
writing, no police officer had been killed or severely hurt since
the King riots. He views the massive crackdown—including the
deportation of thousands of gang members to their original
countries—as a reaction to a challenge of America's power
structure. He asserts that gangs take root when there is a
widespread "lack of social recreation, decent education or
employment." People, he says—particularly young
people—need productive options. If not, they will take what is
available—which far too often is selling sex and drugs.
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He concludes the epilogue with a final word to his son Ramiro.
He praises the teen's progress and the "small but intense" fire
burning within him, encouraging him to learn to appreciate his
own worth as a human being—and to "stop running."
Analysis
This is the original epilogue to Always Running, written in 1992
and published as part of the first edition of the book in 1993.
Much of this section consists of Rodríguez's thoughts on the
Rodney King riots and their aftermath. The reader may find
parts of Rodríguez's analysis of the complex dynamic
surrounding the riots problematic. On the one hand, it is
absolutely indisputable that the riots were a direct response to
the decades of systemic racism, poverty, and unemployment
inflicted upon L.A.'s minority communities. It is also equally
incontestable that the "terrorist-type tactics" routinely
employed against them by the LAPD were a root cause and
that the status quo was "challenged," as Rodríguez says, by the
unrest.
At the same time, Rodríguez's characterization of the
government's reaction to the post-King union of the Crips and
the Bloods as entirely uncalled-for may seem somewhat off-
key to some. After all, Rodríguez has just presented a vivid
picture of the dysfunction and violence inherent in la vida loca,
an environment so toxic that he was forced to flee it to save
himself from the wrath of his own fellow gang members. Given
that only three months before this epilogue, the King riots
resulted in the deaths of 42 people, it may be at least
understandable that the LAPD saw a union of L.A.'s two largest
gangs as a threat. Even with the sharp drop in gang violence
the truce brought about and the encouraging appearance of a
"Bloods/Crips Proposal for L.A.'s Face-Lift," it might be
unreasonable to not expect a degree of concern on the
government's part that the proverbial chickens were about to
come home to roost.
Rodríguez's final word to his son assumes a sharp poignancy in
light of the fact that after this text was written, Ramiro was
sentenced to 28 years in prison on three counts of attempted
murder. However, a final look at the new introduction will—as is
the case with this epilogue—end the reader's examination of
Always Running on a hopeful note.
g Quotes
"When I was two years old, our
family left Ciudad Juárez,
Chihuahua, for Los Angeles."
— Luis Rodríguez, Chapter 1
With this early sentence, Luis Rodríguez states his family's
background, which will color virtually everything the family
experiences in the United States.
"We will make it ... But we have to
be patient. We have to believe."
— Alfonso, Chapter 1
Rodríguez's father responds to mother María Estela's change
of heart about leaving him and taking the children back to
Mexico. It is left to the reader to judge how founded Alfonso's
confidence will prove to be.
"Get down here ... you greaser!"
— Police deputy, Chapter 2
These words, spoken to 10-year-old Tito moments before he is
chased to his death, are emblematic of the racism that infuses
the LAPD's approach toward minorities, even children.
"I wanted what Thee Mystics had; I
wanted the power to hurt
somebody."
— Luis Rodríguez, Chapter 2
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Rodríguez remembers his reactions as an 11-year-old to a gang
attack on his elementary school. The recollection illustrates the
appeal of gangs to young men who feel disconnected and
disenfranchised.
"You just don't know what you're
dealing with."
— Chicano deputy, Chapter 3
While Rodríguez is locked up (at age 14 or 15), a deputy
explains to him the highly organized methods by which the
LAPD tracks minority youth as young as age 7. The deputy's
words illustrate the strength of the institutional forces working
against young Chicanos and other disenfranchised groups.
"Friction filled its hallways."
— Luis Rodríguez, Chapter 4
Rodríguez describes the atmosphere in Mark Keppel High
School, which has a roughly 60:40 Anglo-Chicano student
body ratio. Anglos occupy the more privileged stratum in both
academics and extracurricular activities.
"She stood in line for the Ferris
wheel, looking like delicate
earthenware, glazed in honey."
— Luis Rodríguez, Chapter 4
Rodríguez describes his first sight of Viviana, a beautiful young
woman with three brothers in rival gang Sangra. His romantic
relationships throughout Always Running (beginning at age 12)
are repeatedly thwarted by the personal and cultural
dysfunction inherent in gang culture.
"I plunged the screwdriver into
flesh and bone, and the sky
screamed."
— Luis Rodríguez, Chapter 5
Rodríguez assaults an innocent stranger as part of his initiation
into Lomas, after he himself was violently beaten in that same
ritual. The initiation illustrates how, in gang culture, violence is
the currency of human interaction.
"Fine—who gives a fuck what I
want!"
— Luis Rodríguez, Chapter 6
Rodríguez says this to his English literature teacher during his
short-lived attendance at Taft High School. His words illustrate
that his problems in advancing himself are rooted in his own
behavior as well as the cultural disadvantages of being a
Chicano immigrant in the United States.
"I had a cell next to Charles
Manson."
— Luis Rodríguez, Chapter 7
A 16-year-old Rodríguez has been violently arrested at a
protest rally. He is illegally detained in "murderer's row," among
older, hardcore offenders. This is an illustration of how little
regard the Los Angeles justice system has for minority
juveniles.
"Louie, you don't understand
nothing, do you?"
— Viviana, Chapter 7
Rodríguez and Viviana have just made love on her front porch,
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and now she says he must leave. He is clueless as to why. She
understands, however, that her brothers' membership in
Sangra (a rival gang to Rodríguez's Lomas) dooms any chance
of a successful relationship between them.
"And another world opened up to
me."
— Luis Rodríguez, Chapter 8
Rodríguez describes the effect on his outlook when he began
to pursue mural creation. The reader has already seen that he
has a creative streak, and art in particular is showing him
something beyond the sad, violent world of gang life.
"And we hit them and they hit
us—when does it stop?"
— Luis Rodríguez, Chapter 8
Rodríguez is trying to dissuade Puppet from launching a violent
attack against Sangra. The capacity for reason and empathy
he displays here will prove a large part of his motivation for
breaking free of Lomas.
"You seem like a tough dude. I'm
sure you can take it."
— Clinic doctor, Chapter 9
The clinic doctor who is stitching up Rodríguez's lip tells him
that she will do so without anesthetic. Rodríguez's
Chicano/gang macho ethos keeps him from complaining or
even wincing at the pain.
"I left before the teardrops fell—for
fear they'd never stop."
— Luis Rodríguez, Chapter 10
As Rodríguez leaves for his hideout in San Pedro, he stops at
Resurrection Cemetery, where many people he knows have
been buried after their lives were cut short. The gesture serves
as a final goodbye to a life he hopes he is escaping for good.
l Symbols
Rodríguez's Room
When Rodríguez is 14, his mother forces him to take up
residence in the family's garage. He lives there until he leaves
Lomas at 19. Throughout that period the cold room, with no
toilet facilities, can be seen to represent his separation from
his family. Conversely, this separateness makes Rodríguez
more easily accessible to any "homeboy or homegirl needing a
place to crash, to party or just hang," or for gang activity such
as the hit on Chava in Chapter 5.
On a more positive note, the room also provides Rodríguez
with a private space to listen to his music, practice his
saxophone, or do his writing. In this respect, it gives him an
environment that helps lead him to the final decision to leave
gang life.
Nicknames
Throughout Always Running nicknames symbolize a degree of
affectionate bonding among families and the surrogate families
called gangs. Rodríguez begins Chapter 1, in fact, by relating
the nicknames of the children in the Rodríguez family: he is
"Grillo" (cricket); his brother José René is "Rano" (frog), and his
sisters Ana Virginia and Gloria Estela are "Pata" (duck) and
"Cuca" (cockroach).
Nicknames also seem almost a requirement of gang
membership: Rodríguez becomes "Chin" because of the
"disjointed, lopsided and protruding" jawbone he acquires in a
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school fight. Others include "Little Man," "Night Owl," "Puppet,"
and "Shark." These nicknames indicate the camaraderie and
brotherhood of the group.
m Themes
Family and Society
Statements are made and questions raised throughout Always
Running about the nature of family and society—and in
particular the nature of belonging. Even when young, Luis
Rodríguez seems to be largely removed from an unaffectionate
father and an overwhelmed mother. Similarly, the subculture of
which they are a part (the Chicano community of Los Angeles)
derives a large part of its identity from its separation from the
dominant white, "native" society. As the reader follows
Rodríguez's story, it is easy to discern how la vida loca fills the
vacuum in his life that should be filled by his family and the
larger culture. In a very real sense the gangs to which he
belongs—Lomas in particular—become his family, just as
community organizer Chente Ramírez for a time serves as a
surrogate father. At the same time, the reader might ponder
why Rodríguez's brother José René (Joe) was able to not only
survive but comparatively thrive in precisely the same
environment.
Alcohol and Drugs in Gang Life
Alcohol and drugs become part of Rodríguez's life at a young
age. In Chapter 2 he tells the reader that, at 13, he is "already
into drugs." Illicit substances are portrayed throughout Always
Running as part and parcel of gang life. They serve as a major
source of income, for one thing. Rodríguez notes in the
epilogue that if there are no jobs to be had, "people will do the
next best thing—such as sell sex or dope." Drugs also offer an
escape from the deadening nature of an existence with no
opportunity—and at one point they nearly result in Rodríguez's
escape from life itself. Finally, and perhaps primarily, they
provide a means of bonding among gang members: in Chapter
5 Rodríguez describes his first hit of heroin as an initiation into
the "fellowship of la carga, so integral to 'la vida loca.'" It is
ultimately Rodríguez's rejection of that fellowship (and his
influence on other Lomas members to likewise shy away from
drugs) that sparks Lomas's decision to turn on him in Chapter
10.
Cruel and Corrupt Nature of
"The System"
Throughout Always Running racial insults and profiling by
police toward Chicanos are depicted as commonplace, with no
fair or humane application of the law on display at any point.
From age 10, when Rodríguez loses his friend Tito as the result
of the brutal techniques of the LAPD, it is plain that "the
system" is stacked against him. (Tito himself at that same age
already knows enough to fear that the police will "beat the
crap" out of them; he implies, in fact, that he has experienced
it.)
Rodríguez also points out in the preface and elsewhere in the
book that the LAPD deliberately foments trouble between
gangs, as if they do not wish to see the violence subside.
"Shootings, assaults and skirmishes between the barrios are
direct results of police activity," he states in Chapter 3,
"everybody knows this."
A particularly straightforward description of the police's
methodical, heavy-handed approach is given to Rodríguez by
the Chicano sheriff's deputy in that same chapter. The
deputy's smirking observation—"You guys just don't know ...
what you're dealing with"—evidences the gleefully sadistic
approach they take toward their work. Rodríguez's view that
the police are "just another gang" seems well-founded.
- What's Inside
- j Book Basics
- d In Context
- a Author Biography
- h Key Figures
- k Plot Summary
- c Chapter Summaries
- g Quotes
- l Symbols
- m Themes
