Always Running

The Prologue begins with Luis J. Rodriguez, a former Los Angeles gang member turned artist and father, living with his family in Humboldt Park, a low-income Chicago neighborhood with its own share of gang violence. Luis’ 15-year-old son, Ramiro, is fast becoming entrenched in gang life, despite Luis’ best efforts to keep his son on a path towards higher education and a better life. After an explosive fight, Ramiro runs away from home, with Luis chasing after him. Ramiro is gone for two weeks before Luis can locate him. The family begins a difficult, long process of helping Ramiro, which involves his school and a mental health facility. Seeing his son struggle, Luis is inspired to write the story of his own gang years and his eventual escape, a story that has been fifteen years in the making. With this book, he aims to illuminate the violence entrenched in poor neighborhoods and how Americans can reduce the “casualty count” of young people lost to gang warfare. “The more we know,” Rodriguez writes, “the more we owe” (10).