Luis Rodriguez

Luis J. Rodriguez has a third wife and he has three kids. Luis had a reputation of being bad on the streets (as a gangster) he lived on. He used to live in one of the ten poorest neighborhoods in the country and one of the most gang infested. He also was in a gang when he was 18 years old, so he knows a lot of things about gangs like violence, drugs, and a whole bunch of other things and he knows how dangerous it is. Luis Rodriguez is a hero because he was telling little kids in Seattle not to be in a gang because it is very dangerous. He’s also experienced how much dangerous things you have to do. He is a guy that had to go through a lot of things that his family wouldn’t have appreciated.

Luis Rodriguez is a hero because he’s warning kids not to be in a gang. Being in a gang is trouble, it’s dangerous, and you might get shot by other gangs. Some kids might not listen to Luis and get in a gang anyways, but some gang members might think he’s right and get out of a gang.

In gangs the older gang members might pick on the smaller and weaker gang members. Luis was in a tough gang that picked on Luis sometimes. Luis Rodriguez knows that in every gang, there’s a boss to lead the other gang members. The boss tells the other gang members what to do, what to sell, and how to sell it. Even 10 year old boys get in a gang. A ten year old boy can earn money as a lookout for local drug dealers. If the gang members get the money, they are supposed to give it to the boss and they keep some of it because they earned it by doing anything that the boss told them to do. Luis’s life could have been hell because he had to do anything the gang's boss told him to do like if the gang's boss told him to beat up this guy, Luis would have to do it. If the gang’s boss told him to sell drugs, he would have to do it, and even if Luis’s gang boss told him to go tag a cops car he still would have to do it even, if Luis got caught and went to jail. When Luis got out of jail or if he did what the gang’s boss told Luis to do, the boss would give him a lot of money for what he had done. The boss of some gangs is like the devil to some of the gang members and he most likely owns the gang members. If the gang's boss dies, the one closest to him/her gets to be the new boss of the gang.

Luis became a hero when he wrote books talking about his life, and gang life, and how he had to struggle with his life while growing up. Luis is a hero because he had a chance to talk to adults, teenagers, and little kids, in Seattle, about his books and how people in gangs struggle with their lives and how people might end up dead or in jail (which you could end up dead their too). Luis gave advice to people about how to deal with their life and told them not to make bad decisions. All the things about the boss make Luis a hero because he went through this and tells little kids all the things you have to go through with your gang boss.

Works Cited

“Luis J. Rodriguez -biography and accomplishments.” [Online] Available http://www.luisjrodiguez.com/bio/bio.html, September 25, 2007.

“Luis J Rodriguez.”[Online] Available http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/84, October 3, 2007.

Rodriguez, Luis. Always Running. New York: Curbstone Press, 1993