WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.470 align:middle line:90% 00:00:01.470 --> 00:00:06.540 align:middle line:84% For our final reader, we have Luis Rodriguez. 00:00:06.540 --> 00:00:09.960 align:middle line:84% Luis Rodriguez believes a writer can change the world. 00:00:09.960 --> 00:00:12.510 align:middle line:84% Through the power of words, this acclaimed poet, 00:00:12.510 --> 00:00:14.400 align:middle line:84% novelist, children's book author, 00:00:14.400 --> 00:00:18.120 align:middle line:84% and journalist saw his way out of poverty and despair. 00:00:18.120 --> 00:00:20.700 align:middle line:84% Successful as a Chicano poet, Rodriguez 00:00:20.700 --> 00:00:23.280 align:middle line:84% thought he had put the street and his own days 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:26.520 align:middle line:84% as a gang member behind him, until his young son joined 00:00:26.520 --> 00:00:27.630 align:middle line:90% a gang. 00:00:27.630 --> 00:00:30.180 align:middle line:84% Rodriguez fought for his child by telling his own story 00:00:30.180 --> 00:00:33.210 align:middle line:84% in the national bestseller, "Always Running, La Vida 00:00:33.210 --> 00:00:35.670 align:middle line:90% Loca, Gang Days in LA." 00:00:35.670 --> 00:00:37.860 align:middle line:84% This vivid memoir explores gang life 00:00:37.860 --> 00:00:40.110 align:middle line:84% and cautions against the death and destruction 00:00:40.110 --> 00:00:42.210 align:middle line:90% that haunts its participants. 00:00:42.210 --> 00:00:45.030 align:middle line:84% A New York Times notable book, Always Running 00:00:45.030 --> 00:00:47.910 align:middle line:84% was named one of the nation's 100 most censored titles 00:00:47.910 --> 00:00:50.640 align:middle line:84% by the American Library Association. 00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:52.830 align:middle line:84% The book has been included on school reading lists 00:00:52.830 --> 00:00:56.010 align:middle line:84% nationwide, but has often been the subject of controversy 00:00:56.010 --> 00:01:01.440 align:middle line:84% due to its frank depictions of gang life. 00:01:01.440 --> 00:01:03.750 align:middle line:84% Jonathan Kozol called Always Running 00:01:03.750 --> 00:01:08.130 align:middle line:84% an absolutely unique work, richly literary and poetic, yet 00:01:08.130 --> 00:01:11.070 align:middle line:84% urgent and politically explosive at the time, 00:01:11.070 --> 00:01:15.060 align:middle line:84% a permanent testament to human courage and transcendence. 00:01:15.060 --> 00:01:17.190 align:middle line:84% Writing in the New York Times Book Review, 00:01:17.190 --> 00:01:19.830 align:middle line:84% Gary Soto said Rodriguez's account of his coming of age 00:01:19.830 --> 00:01:22.680 align:middle line:84% is vivid, raw, fierce, and fearless. 00:01:22.680 --> 00:01:26.400 align:middle line:84% Here's truth no television set, burning night and day, 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:28.590 align:middle line:90% could ever begin to offer. 00:01:28.590 --> 00:01:32.970 align:middle line:84% Always Running was adapted as full stage play in 2019 00:01:32.970 --> 00:01:36.990 align:middle line:84% by Luis J. Rodriguez and Hector Rodriguez for Casa 101 00:01:36.990 --> 00:01:38.880 align:middle line:90% Theater in Los Angeles. 00:01:38.880 --> 00:01:42.750 align:middle line:84% In 2012, Rodriguez also published "It Calls You Back," 00:01:42.750 --> 00:01:46.980 align:middle line:84% an odyssey of love, addiction, revolutions, and healing. 00:01:46.980 --> 00:01:50.220 align:middle line:84% This sequel to Always Running was nominated for the National 00:01:50.220 --> 00:01:53.690 align:middle line:90% Book Critics Circle Award. 00:01:53.690 --> 00:01:55.250 align:middle line:90% I will stop there, Luis. 00:01:55.250 --> 00:01:58.370 align:middle line:84% You have so many amazing things that you've done in your life, 00:01:58.370 --> 00:02:02.210 align:middle line:84% to not only write, but also just to inspire others to write. 00:02:02.210 --> 00:02:06.950 align:middle line:84% So I just want to give you the warmest welcome for being here. 00:02:06.950 --> 00:02:08.500 align:middle line:90% Gracias.