Latino author plants cultural roots: Luis Rodriguez opens Tia Chucha's Cafe Cultural in California. (Criticas News).(Brief Article)

After nearly two decades in Chicago, Luis Rodriguez, who is best known for the gang memoir Always Running: La vida loca, has returned to California to plant his roots and provide the northeastern San Fernando Valley community with a much-needed commodity--books. An estimated 400,000 people live in the northeastern part of the valley, 80% of whom are Latino, but the area, Rodriguez said, is "culturally barren," devoid of bookstores, cultural centers, and even movie houses. This observation sparked a fire in Rodriguez over a year ago and motivated him to fulfill his dream of building an interactive cultural center, a place where kids can hang out and apply their restless energy …