luis j. rodriguez

Pages

Luis Rodriguez
Luis J. Rodriguez, October 11, 2016

Let us dare haunting verse of the oppressed,

poems with hoodies, finger-tapping, ambling.

I mean pissed off and ardently expressed,

poems delirious as midnight rambling.

Bebop, Hip Hop, a decima or slam,


Tia Chucha's Cultural Center & Bookstore's mural depicting the tree of life, the masculine/feminine generating principles of the world, and the wholeness of self, community, earth, and spirit.
Luis J. Rodriguez, August 18, 2016

First, a number of greetings in the language of a few native peoples on this continent:

Yaa'teeh – “It is good” in Dine/Navajo

Kwira Va – “We are one” in Raramuri


Los Angeles Poet Laureate Luis J. Rodríguez and his wife Trini.
Luis J. Rodriguez, July 29, 2016

Ideas of racial/cultural purity or superiority are alive and well in the United States. These are oppressive, non-biological, and unnatural concepts, pushed on us like other lies and illusions in our society. This wouldn’t matter much except people believe them.


Luis J. Rodriguez, June 18, 2016

In the aftermath of the Pulse nightclub massacre, Orlando, Florida, June 12, 2016

By Luis J. Rodriguez

 

Hate becomes death becomes hate.

The world unravels in fear.

 

Columbine: 13 students and a teacher gone.


Luis reading at L.A. Times Festival of Books at USC, April 2015
Luis J. Rodriguez, January 21, 2016

On historic Central Avenue near East 45th Street, the Vernon Branch Public Library looks like a jail—tall fences surround the circa 1915 building and a fenced walkway leads up to the doorway. Like the surrounding neighborhood, the library appears worn, beaten down.


John Trudell
Luis J. Rodriguez, December 14, 2015

Crazy Horse
We hear what you say
One Earth one Mother
One does not sell the Earth
The people walk upon


A message wall speaks to life on the streets.
Luis J. Rodriguez, November 24, 2015

Every road should come to this end:
A place called home.
When you don’t have one
the expanse of sky is your roof,
the vacant lots and sidewalks your living room.
Every city, your city.


Luis J. Rodriguez. Photo by Kevin Scanlon
Luis J. Rodriguez, September 17, 2015

In the United States, “Latinx Heritage Month” is celebrated from September 15 to October 15. This is a time to recognize and honor Latinx peoples, cultures, issues, contributions, and histories.


Luis J. Rodriguez at age 21 in Watts with his first son Ramiro, age 1, and his first wife Camila. By then Luis was gang-free, drug-free and crime-free.
Luis J. Rodriguez, June 23, 2015

The calling came to me while I languished
in my room, while I whittled away my youth
in jail cells and damp barrio fields.


Juan Felipe Herrera
Luis J. Rodriguez, April 29, 2015

Chicano/a poets have emerged as major literary figures in the United States with the recent appointments of Juan Felipe Herrera as California Poet Laureate (although he just finished his two-year term) and <


Pages

Top