Celebrating Rodolfo ‘Corky’ Gonzales
Today’s slideshow Doodle, illustrated by Brooklyn, NY-based guest artist Roxie Vizcarra, celebrates U.S. Chicano educator, boxer, poet, and activist Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales.
Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales (June 18, 1928 – April 12, 2005) was a Chicano boxer, poet, political organizer, and activist.
Rodolfo Gonzales (nicknamed “Corky” for his effervescent personality) was born on June 18, 1928, in an east-side barrio of Denver, Colorado. Throughout his youth, Corky worked in the sugar beet fields with his father, a first-generation Mexican immigrant who has given teaching him to take pride in his heritage.
Gonzales was one of many leaders for the Crusade for Justice in Denver, Colorado. The Crusade for Justice was an urban rights and Chicano cultural urban movement during the 1960s focusing on social, political and economic justice for Chicanos.
Gonzales convened the first-ever Chicano Youth Liberation Conference in 1968, which was poorly attended due to timing and weather conditions. Gonzales tried again in March 1969, and established what is commonly known as the First Chicano Youth Liberation Conference.
This Conference was attended by many future Chicano activists and artists. The conference also birthed the Plan Espiritual de Aztlán, a pro-indigenist manifesto advocating revolutionary Chicano nationalism and self-determination for all Chicanos. Through the Crusade for Justice, Gonzales organized the Mexican American people of Denver to fight for their cultural, political, and economic rights, leaving his mark on history.
Quote:
La Raza! Méjicano! Español! Latino! Chicano!
Or whatever I call myself,
I look the same, I feel the same
I Cry and Sing the same.
I am the masses of my people and I refuse to be absorbed.
I am Joaquín. The odds are great
But my spirit is strong,
My faith unbreakable,
My blood is pure.
Here Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales slideshow Doodle https://www.google.com/doodles/celebrating-rodolfo-corky-gonzales
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