Always Running Histor report

Forever Running an Inside Look into Louis Rodriguez Always Running




































Travis Taylor
HST 370.03




Travis Taylor
Dr. Lindsay
History of California
4 December 2008
Forever Running an Inside Look into Louis Rodriguez’s Always Running
Gang life is is a common lifestyle for many many Americans growing up in heavily populated urban areas, where gangs, violence, and drugs are considered to be everyday things. It is a lifestyle in which it affects everyone in the community, not just one individual or a particular gang but everyone living or even working in the community. Gangs, violence, and drugs, were prevalent in Rodriguez’s neighborhood in East Los Angles and these problems shaped and affected the community in several ways.
Violence has always been apart of Luis’ life. When Rodriguez was young he lived with his parents who frequently fought and had several problems. They lived in Watts area, and were very poor moving from different house to different house very frequently. “For months we had been pushed from one house to another, just Mama and us children” (Rodriguez 14). They never lived in what is considered to be a safe neighborhood, when Luis was six his mother had sent him and his older brother to the market to purchase some groceries. On their way home they were attacked and beaten up, “They punched him in the face, in the stomach, then his face again, cutting his lip, causing him to vomit” (25). Situations like these are an everyday occurrence for some communities. When Luis’ family moved to the San Gabriel Valley which had a large gang population. Their house was located in between two large gangs. “You guys live between the the two largest ‘hoods’. You got to figure out which one to claim or you’re going to get fucked by both of them” (54). In San Gabriel you had to be part of a gang it was considered to be protection, for getting jumped or worse.
Violence and Gangs usually go hand in hand, in most cases it involved turf, or areas where certain gangs claimed for their own. When they were young, around middle school their gangs were not highly organized, they were more like a group of friends who hug out and fought others if they had a particular reason to. When they got in high school things changed a lot if you walked down the wrong street their could be problems for you. As they got older the more organized the gangs got. They would organize who they would hit or in other words shoot. An individual needed a gang it is considered vital for ones protection.