Location
San Fernando, CA
Website
www.luisjrodriguez.com
PAGE 2
Luis Rodriguez: I was amused as well as concerned about the banning of my book in a number of public schools. I participated at some level in battles to reinstate my book. I wouldn't do this unless there was significant support in the community. My aim is not to impose my book on any community that doesn't want it. But if there is enough vital interest in the book, where teachers, students and parents see the value of having this story read and explored by students, I would support such efforts. Most of the concerns around the banning of my book were about the few graphic sexual images in the book. This is because sex - mostly awkward and unprotected - as well as rape were real aspects of barrio gang life; I needed to draw attention to this as it happened, not just as a judgmental statement. Sex is natural to human beings. My book - or any book for that matter - does not have as much to do with this as hormones. But few adults are adequately addressing this with youth except to ignore or deny the sexual lives of these young people. They need guidance, mature attitudes, and clear support - not fear and loathing and guilt-tripping. I also think there was political opposition to my book, although this is a much harder issue to impose on a book banning. While there are far more violent scenes in the books, most of the banning efforts seem to be around the sex scenes.
Tell us about Rock-A-Mole Productions. A few months ago we received your cd titled My Name is Not Rodriguez. It was one of the first times I've ever heard a poetry cd of its kind. How and when did you become involved with putting together Rock-A-Mole Productions and the cd?
Luis Rodriguez: Rock-A-Mole (rhymes with guacamole) Productions was created soon after the 1992 Los Angeles Uprising following the acquittals of police officers in the Rodney King beating. Its purpose was to establish music and art festivals emphasizing urban graffiti art, music, dance, video, and spoken word - from those who were not being heard. We've now had nine such festivals throughout LA, showcasing great music, visual art, and words, free to the public. We also created "LA Underground" CDs of emerging Hip Hop, Jazz and street music in the mid-1990s. In 2002, I recorded my CD of music and poetry called "My Name's Not Rodriguez" with Rock-A-Mole co-founder Ernie Perez. We plan to continue such efforts in bringing poetry, vision and song of urban LA to the world.
You are invovled in many projects but one that I would like to focus on is the center of art and culture, Tia Chucha Cafe Cultural in Sylmar. I read the Los Angeles Times article that you sent along with the cd (December 18, 2001). It states that the San Fernando, Arleta, Sun Valley and Pacoima areas, had no book stores, movie houses or community centers for the arts before the Tia Chucha Cafe opened up. What was the response upon opening the Tia Chucha Cafe Cultural? What was the response from the city (government, officials, etc.)? Why did the city neglect to have a community center for the arts in an area where it was needed most?
Luis Rodriguez: Tia Chucha's Cafe Cultural is a bookstore, cafe, art gallery, performance space and Internet cafe in a mostly Mexicano/Chicano/Central American community in the San Fernando Valley. With some 400,000 people in the Northeast side of the Valley, in the "Entertainment" capital of the world, there were no bookstores, art galleries or movie houses here until we opened our doors. This is true for neighborhoods in other areas like South Central LA and East LA. Since my family had just moved into the Northeast San Fernando Valley from Chicago (in the summer of 2000), I decided to help create such a center. My wife Trini and my brother-in-law Enrique Sanchez, a local businessman and homeowner, joined me in this effort. In the two years since we've opened, we've been embraced by this community and have had some fantastic events. So far we have not had much response from government officials as far as monetary or other support. I feel they are often threatened by these kinds of places - which brings the arts, ideas, history, reading, and community participation to a much higher level. Most politicians would rather maintain an uninformed constituency even as they work to prepare and bring out their own people and supporters. I believe the city failed to have such centers in most of the poorest areas in LA because they feel these people would be best suited to work the low-paying service, construction and manufacturing industries that cater to such communities. We expect more than this. We need to prepare our communities to be more socially and politically engaged. Tia Chucha's does this through the arts.
Which project/program are you currently working on?
Luis Rodriguez: I just finished my first novel, "Music of the Mill," to be published in the fall of 2004 by Rayo/Harper Collins. I already have eight other books in print and a CD. I'm also working on a number of other writing projects, including a screenplay, a biographical book of a leading Native American poet, another children's book, another poetry collection, and several essays. I continue to travel from 80 to 100 days a year to read, lecture and conduct workshops throughout the country and parts of the world. I will also work to promote and keep viable Tia Chucha's Cafe Cultural and its non-profit arm, Tia Chucha's Centro Cultural; my poetry press Tia Chucha Press; my CD/Record label, Dos Manos; and our first online magazine, Xispas.com, which is scheduled to be launched in March 2004.
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