The Revolt of the Cockroach People

Semi-autobiographical in nature, Oscar Zeta Acosta’s historical novel The Revolt of the Cockroach People (1973) follows Mexican-American lawyer Buffalo Zeta Brown as he responds to civil unrest in Los Angeles and runs for sheriff of Los Angeles County. The novel covers events including the Garfield High School walkouts in East L.A. protesting the unequal treatment of students, and the Christmas protests at St. Basil’s church, expressing outrage at the Church’s use of charity funds to renovate its buildings. The novel also provides a fictionalized retelling of the death of Ruben Salazar (named Roland Zanzibar in the text). The novel has become a cult classic, especially following Acosta’s mysterious disappearance in Mexico shortly after its publication.

The novel begins in 1968 when Brown moves to Los Angeles and first gets involved with the Chicano cultural and civil rights movement. Using his credentials, he provides legal support to activists and helps organize protests. Most of his clients live in the fictional “Tooner Flats” neighborhood in East L.A. For three years, Brown works alongside the Chicano Militants. His first march is the Garfield School protest. Most of the protest’s leaders are charged with conspiracy to disrupt the educational system, but they ultimately win thanks in part to Brown’s legal skills. Brown’s new trajectory as a lawyer and activist surprises him: he first moved to Los Angeles hoping to become a writer.

The second cluster of events in Brown’s activism career in L.A. is the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day protests, again led by the Chicano Militants. These protests form out of the St. Basil Church’s appropriation of donations to fund a 3 million dollar addition to the chapel. Brown’s third case is the tragic hanging of Robert Fernandez in his jail cell. Brown and the Chicano activists hold that Fernandez was murdered, while the opposing party argues that he committed suicide. Brown succeeds in authorizing a second autopsy and additional hearings, but the case does not result in a murder charge.



While Brown is on a break in Acapulco, East L.A. breaks out in its historic 1970 riots. Prominent reporter Ronald Zanzibar is killed in the midst of the riots, and a militant group known as the Tooner Flats Seven is arrested in connection with the uprisings. Brown fights for a year to secure their exoneration and wins. His historic argument sets a legal precedent for the right to question decisions made by judges. After these formative cases, Brown starts to diversify from his role as strictly a legal adviser. He takes part in the bombing of the Safeway grocery store, driving the car used to transport the bomb and bombers. He also helps plan the strategy for bombing the Los Angeles Courthouse. In taking part in these extreme forms of protest, he hoped to enact revenge against corporate interests and a justice system that systematically marginalized and discriminated against Chicanos. Brown escapes formal charges for the crimes he participated in; indeed, he participated in the very rallies that supported the accused. The Revolt of the Cockroach People frames these violent and nonviolent protests as righteous in a consequentialist sense, as they aimed to dismantle an oppressive system causing death and destruction to minorities in Los Angeles.