LAPL Blog
Luis J. Rodriguez, Poet Laureate of Los Angeles,

Pages
Los Angeles Poets and the Temper of Our Times.
Let us dare haunting verse of the oppressed,
poems with hoodies, finger-tapping, ambling.
I mean pissed off and ardently expressed,
poems delirious as midnight rambling.
Bebop, Hip Hop, a decima or slam,
From an Indigenous Mind—The Four Key Connections
First, a number of greetings in the language of a few native peoples on this continent:
Yaa'teeh – “It is good” in Dine/Navajo
Kwira Va – “We are one” in Raramuri
What Do Notions of Race or Cultural Superiority Serve?
Ideas of racial/cultural purity or superiority are alive and well in the United States. These are oppressive, non-biological, and unnatural concepts, pushed on us like other lies and illusions in our society. This wouldn’t matter much except people believe them.
Poem for a New Dream
In the aftermath of the Pulse nightclub massacre, Orlando, Florida, June 12, 2016
By Luis J. Rodriguez
Hate becomes death becomes hate.
The world unravels in fear.
Columbine: 13 students and a teacher gone.
“Poet in Motion”—North Carolina and Transgender Justice
North Carolina has some of the most diverse terrain of any state—from the Great Smoky Mountains, which includes the Blue Ridge peaks of the massive Appalachian mountain range, to the Outer Banks on the Atlantic coast. The state is rich in bio-diversity, history, and people.
Los Angeles Industry—Where the Past and Future Collide
Any good craftsman carries his tools.
Years ago they were always at the ready.
In a car. In a knapsack.
Claw hammers, crisscrossed heads,
Celebrate National Poetry Month with "Coiled Serpent: Poets Arising from the Cultural Quakes & Shifts of Los Angeles"
Below is the introduction by Luis J.
Why Children Should Not be Treated as Adults for Crimes
Walk with the young, America;
be young, again, America,
among the defiant and awake,
solid in their dreams.
Be the revolution in the marrow
where passions, ideals, fervors,
purpose and courage,
are not just qualities
people had in history books,
City of Angels, City of Poets
On historic Central Avenue near East 45th Street, the Vernon Branch Public Library looks like a jail—tall fences surround the circa 1915 building and a fenced walkway leads up to the doorway. Like the surrounding neighborhood, the library appears worn, beaten down.
Grandmothers Talking: My Time and Teachings with John Trudell
Crazy Horse
We hear what you say
One Earth one Mother
One does not sell the Earth
The people walk upon