luisjrodriguez.com
Updated on May14, 2010

"I met a fella named Luis Rodriguez, a writer and a poet, who had a cultural center in Los Angeles. These are people I've known and worked with for a long time. These are the people trying to fill the holes that should long ago have been filled by government. Those are the people who give me optimism. They're relentlessly hopeful, and they face it all on the front lines on a daily basis."
- Bruce Springsteen from Rolling Stone magazine, Nov. 15, 2007.

And recently Luis was part of an Amici Curiae brief to arguments for ending juvenile life without parole sentencing in front of the US Supreme on November 9, 2009. Along with other notable youth offenders who have changed their lives after being given second changes (in some cases fourth or fifth chances) such as actor Charles S. Dutton, former US Senator Alan Simpson, and others, Luis' story will be included in support of petitioners Terrance Jamar Graham and Joe Harris Sullivan, both of Florida. Our hope is to overturn these laws that throw away our youth, rather than providing all the necessary resources to help turn their lives around. Visit www.endjlwop.org/ for more information.

Stevie Wonder and Luis Rodriguez during Stevie's show on Thursday, July 31, 2008 on KJLH-FM, 102.3, Los Angeles. Luis talked about current issues and even sang Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" with Stevie on keyboards.

ABC's Vista L.A.covered Tia Chucha's Cultural Center in their Sept. 13, 2009 broadcast.

On Friday, Jan. 1, 2010, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams broadcast a short segment on the life and work of Luis J. Rodriguez.
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Luis J. Rodriguez is known for visiting prisons, juvenile facilities, universities, college, public & private schools, homeless shelters, Native American reservations, conferences, and more throughout the U.S., Latin America, Japan, and Europe. He often addresses issues of violence, gangs, community building, the arts, and poetry, among others, in his travels. Here are two pieces by Erica Marrero on Luis's recent visit to Chihuahua City and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico:

"Former Gang Member Says Art Is an Antidote to Violence"
"An Interview with Author and Activist Luis J. Rodríguez"

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Tia Chucha Press is a world-class small press of poetry--one of the best publishers of poetry in the country. Now one of our authors, Elizabeth Alexander, has been designated to read poetry at the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama on January 20, 2009. This is a great honor for an amazing writer. Tia Chucha Press is proud to be associated with Elizabeth's life and work. We stand with her on this distinctive moment: Elizabeth is only the fourth poet to read at the inauguration of a US president (that includes Robert Frost, Maya Angelou, and Miller Williams). She joins Aretha Franklin, civil rights figure James E. Lowery, and classical musicians Itzhak Perlman, Yo Yo Ma, Gabriela Montero and Anthony McGill on the program.

Most recently, one of our other authors, Patricia Smith, and a former editor, Reginald Gibbons, were nominated for the National Book Award in Poetry. And we've had amazing other successes with our writers since we began in 1989. In fact, 2009 also happens to be Tia Chucha Press' 20th Anniversary. We plan to reprint Elizabeth's book and others and to have events commemorating our accomplishments in Los Angeles and Chicago. Congratulations to Elizabeth and all our authors. Poetry is needed now more than ever. You can order Tia Chucha Press books at www.tiachucha.com or from our distributor, Northwestern University Press at nupress@northwestern.edu or call 1-800-621-2736.--from editor/founder Luis Rodriguez, Tia Chucha Press, a project of Tia Chucha's Centro Cultural.
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C and C Press is a Pajaro, CA based printer that does hand-made art books, the way books should be done--with a lot of love, craft and collaboration. The artists behind this are Sher Zabaszkiewicz and Matt Cohen. Over the past few years they've done four poetry books of mine ("Seven," "Two Women," Dos Mujeres," and "Making Medicine"), amazingly designed and hand stitched, as well as several broadsides. These are sold at limited-edition & numbered collector's prices. Sher and Matt also work on other projects that are truly wonderful to behold. To get more information about how to obtain my art books and other hand-made print work please go to www.candcpress.com.
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In 1997, John Valadez directed a documentary film for Moira Productions called "Making Peace: Youth Struggling for Survival, Like Father, Like Son" that aired nationally on PBS-TV. This film is available on VHS and DVD from Films for the Humanities and Sciences. It deals with the work Luis Rodriguez did for many years in mentoring, guiding, and assisting active Chicago gang members and other youth into more positive, imaginative, and healed lives. The film also centers on Luis' rocky relationship with his oldest son, Ramiro Rodriguez, who joined a Chicago gang when he was 15. This situation served as a catalyst for Luis writing his best-selling memoir "Always Running, La Vida Loca, Gang Days in LA" (Touchstone Books/Simon & Schuster). When the film aired, it was also shown in 200 community meetings around the country as part of a "Making Peace" campaign.

Luis's poem "Mother by the Lake " was featured in the new poetry CD called "Bread & Steel: Illinois Poets Reading from their Works." Edited by Illinois Poet Laureate Kevin Stein, this CD features the work of 24 contemporary Illinois poets. Luis spent 15 years in Chicago and was extremely active in the poetry scene there. Order from www.bradley.edu/poet/breadandsteel

Luis's poem "The Concrete River" was also in the amazing CD collection "Poetry on Record: 98 Poets Read Their Work, 188-2006," compiled and produced by Rebekah Presson Mosby (Shout Factory). You can find out more at www.shoutfactory.com.

And Luis poem, "My Name's Not Rodriguez," was also in the CD and book called "The Face of Poetry," edited by Zack Rogow with photos by Margaretta K. Mitchell and foreword by Robert Hass (University of California Press). You can check out this wonderful compilation with many important US poets at www.ucpress.edu.
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View a streaming video of the 4th year anniversary celebration for Tia Chucha's Cafe Cultural. Click here to listen to music and poetry by Luis J. Rodriguez on iTunes.