Soldier From LA's Gang Wars Speaks His Story

Tuesday, December 20, 2011 Luis Rodriguez, Author Of 'It Calls You Back,' Writes About Los Angeles' Revolutionary Past In the 1960s and 70s, Los Angeles was full of hippies, revolutionaries and rioters. Politically, it was a time when the federal government was sending undercover spies to infiltrate youth groups, the KKK was still a prominent voice in Valley affairs and the Vietnam war was brewing. It was a potent mix that would eventually give way to the Watts Rebellion, East LA riots, gang violence and other uprisings. Luis Rodriguez chronicles all this and more in "It Calls You Back," a thrilling memoir about his transformation from gang member into journalist, writer and community revolutionary. At the heart of the book is the Rodriguez family's story: his daughter pregnant and in a failed relationship while still a teen, and his oldest son sentenced to jail for almost three decades. What makes their stories even more tragic is the fact that they followed, almost step for step, the path that Rodriguez and their mother had walked before struggling to turn their lives around decades later. Teary-Eyed Success: Polluting Plant Relocates After Making Community Sick WATCH: TSA Christmas Carols At LAX Secret Do-Gooders Leave A Heartwarming Gift For The Homeless Prop 8 Repeal Gets A Huge Green Light PHOTOS: New Year's Resolutions For Celebrity Pets! BLOG POSTS Keli Goff: The Best of the Very Worst Christmas Movies From those that missed the mark on the tube, to those that aimed to be holiday blockbusters at the theater but ended up being holiday busts, the one thing they all have in common is that they succeed in being bad in their own special ways. Gary Orfield: Magnet Schools Are an Important Option for LAUSD We need to make sure that students from all parts of the city have the right to participate in this important alternative, which is one of the only real paths to college, particularly for disadvantaged students, that's left in the City of Los Angeles. Annie Spiegelman: Labels Matter! What's in Your Compost & Your Food? Ready to get genetically engineered foods labeled in your supermarket? You've come to the right place! Kylar W. Broadus: Living Authentically in West Hollywood When I landed in Los Angeles for the first-ever trans people of color town hall and the 13th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, I immediately heard that a trans woman of color, 32-year-old Cassidy Vickers, had been murdered. John Seed: 10 Memorable Paintings From 2011 In the end, my only criteria was that there were several paintings that just really stayed with me. That's why I have decided that this blog should really be called "10 Memorable Paintings from 2011."

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