Plot
The film depicts 30 years of Chicano gang life in Los Angeles. It focuses on Montoya Santana (Panchito Gomez), a teen who, with his friends, J.D. (Steve Wilcox) and Mundo (Richard Coca), form their own gang. They soon find themselves at the wrong place at the wrong time and are arrested.
In juvenile hall, Santana murders a fellow inmate (Eric Close) who'd raped him and as a result, has his sentence extended into Folsom prison after he turns 18. Once there, Santana (now played by Edward James Olmos) becomes the leader of a powerful gang, La Eme. Upon his release he tries to relate his life experiences to the society that has changed so much since he left. La Eme has become a feared criminal organization beyond Folsom, selling drugs and committing murder.
Santana starts to see the error of his ways but before he can take action, is sent back to prison for drug possession. There, he tells his former lieutenant, J.D. (William Forsythe) that he is no longer interested in leading the La Eme. However, following a precedent set by Santana himself earlier in the film, his men murder him to show the other prison gangs that, despite having no leader, they are not weak.
Read more about this topic: American Me
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)