(In Message to Aztlán, Dr. Antonio Esquibel, Professor Eme...)
In Message to Aztlán, Dr. Antonio Esquibel, Professor Emeritus of Metropolitan State College of Denver, has compiled the first collection of Gonzales' diverse writings: the original "I Am Joaquín" (1967), along with a new Spanish translation, seven major speeches (1968-78); two plays, "The Revolutionist and A Cross for Malcovio" (1966-67); various poems written during the 1970s and a selection of letters.
Rodolfo Gonzales was a Mexican-American poet and boxer. He was a prominent activist and spokesperson for the Chicano movement in the United States. As an early figure of the movement for the equal rights of Mexican Americans, he is often considered a founder of the Chicano Movement.
Background
Rodolfo was born on June 18, 1928, in Denver, Colorado, United States. He was the youngest of 8 children. His father had immigrated to Colorado early in life from Chihuahua, but he retained the histories of Mexico's struggle against Spanish domination and against Porfirio Díaz, a struggle that culminated in the Mexican Revolution, both of which he imparted to his son. Rodolfo's mother died when he was 2 years old, and his father never remarried.
He and his siblings were raised in Denver's tough "Eastside Barrio", where the Great Depression took an even heavier toll on Mexican Americans.
Education
Rodolfo attended high schools in Colorado and New Mexico while simultaneously working in the beet fields, and graduated from Manual High School at the age of 16.
Gonzales began his career in the boxing ring, later becoming a bar owner in Denver, Colorado. By 1966 his only career was that of promoting Chicago culture and self-improvement.
During the 1968 Poor People’s March, Gonzales announced his “Plan of the Barrio,” described by David Conde in the Dictionary of Literary Biography as “a declaration of issues demanding improvement of housing and education that took into account the Chicano social and linguistic heritage, land reform, political rights, and the redistribution of wealth and resources.” A year later Gonzales participated in the first annual Chicano Youth Conference, whose manifesto, “El Plan Espiritual de Aztlan,” according to Conde “established the concept of Aztlan, that is, the American Southwest, as a national homeland” for Chicano Americans.
The vision that fueled Gonzales’s activism is revealed in his sole published work, the long, epic poem I Am Joaquin, first printed in 1967. David Conde wrote: “There is little doubt that I Am Joaquin was written as a social document that sought to instill Chicano pride and identity as well as encourage community activism... The literary merit of the work comes from the manner in which the poem is constructed and how theme and structure come together to produce a superior artistic experience. Its epic quality comes from the depiction of a dual journey into the postclassic world of pre-Columbian meso-America as well as into the contradictions of the Chicano heritage.”
He founded the school, that was named after Tlatelolco, an area of Mexico City. In 1968, Tlatelolco became the staging ground for massive student protests and saw yet another massacre, this time by Mexican forces. The school continues to concentrate on its mission of providing alternative education, especially for Chicanos.
The success of the alternative school and Gonzales' political achievements were overshadowed in 1973 when a man was arrested for jaywalking in front of the Crusade's headquarters. An organized protest against the arrest led to confrontations between demonstrators and police. A gun battle erupted, and a bomb exploded in the upper floors of the Downing Terrace apartments, which were in the possession of the Crusade. One man was killed and seventeen were injured, among them 12 police officers. Gonzales accused the Denver police department of grenading the facilities, but a detective described the scene of the explosion as a "veritable arsenal".
After the incident in 1973, Gonzales retreated into the private life of his family and Denver's Chicano community. He was still active in the movement, although he maintained a much lower profile.
He was involved in an automobile accident in 1987 after suffering a heart arrhythmia. His health continued to diminish until he was hospitalized in 1995 with acute liver disease. In 2005, he was diagnosed with renal and coronary distress with acute liver disease. Per his wish, Gonzales died surrounded by friends and family in 2005.
Rodolfo Gonzales was known as the founder of the Crusade for Justice, which became the home of a cultural center, a formal school for all ages of children and adults, the dance company Ballet Folklórico de Aztlan, and the newspaper El Gallo. He is also honored as a founder of Chicano literature, a creator and promulgator of today’s Hispanic cultural identity, and a voice against inequality in all forms. His efforts to fight police violence, to end poverty, and to stop educational discrimination were the precursors to contemporary struggles in the same arenas.
Besides, he also was the author of ''I Am Joaquín'', the poem, that has been applauded not only for its social value but also for its literary artistry and epic proportions.
(In Message to Aztlán, Dr. Antonio Esquibel, Professor Eme...)
2001
Politics
Initially, Gonzales supported Democratic party centered around campaigning for mayor of Denver Quigg Newton. Later, he pushed for a National party stating that the binary parties were two in the same and not representative of the Chicanos.
Connections
In 1949, Gonzales married Geraldine Romero, born in Brighton, Colorado in 1931. They had eight children, six daughters, and two sons.
