Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales As I researched for an Individual that was involved in a social movement, I wanted to find someone interesting that I had no knowledge of. I came across a very talented gentleman by the name of Rodolfo Gonzales known as “Corky”. Why Corky? His uncle said that he had a very firing personality and “he was always popping off like a cork” So the name “Corky” stuck to him. Mr. Gonzales was born in 1928 married Geraldine Romero in 1949 and had eight children together. Mr. Gonzales was a Poet, Boxer, Chicano political and civil rights activist. He was a leader in the movement for fairness and equality for Mexican-Americans in the Southwest. His home was in Denver, Colorado where he was born. He was the son of migrant sugar …show more content…
Mr. Gonzales ran for Colorado State Representative but he was beaten by another candidate. He then worked on voter registration for John F. Kennedy presidential campaign. He managed to successfully register more Mexican Americans than any other time in Colorado’s history. By the 1960’s when Congress passed legislation for President Johnsons War on Poverty, Mr. Gonzales became Denver’s director of the war on Poverty program. He dedicated much of his time and attention to the youth. He wanted them to understand their culture, traditions of the past and most importantly, their future. After a few years of working in politics with the war on poverty he became dissatisfied with the outcome and quit his job as Director in 1966 to found an organization, “Crusade for Justice”. In 1967 Mr. Gonzales made his final political effort, he ran for political office as Mayor for Denver but he was once again defeated. His full attention would now revolve around “The Crusade for Justice”. It had a principal goal, the creation of independence and control of the community in all aspects of the Chicano Life. Within a minimal amount of time the Crusade had its own newspaper called “El Gallo”, school, …show more content…
He wanted the Chicanos to recognize their culture and to have pride in it. He wanted everyone to help each other learn who they were. In this year Mr. Gonzales correspondingly gained national fame because of the well-known classic poem he authored, “Yo Soy Joaquin” or “I am Joaquin” which formed the awareness of the Chicano movement of his time. He had always been a very creative writer and this poem set it off. This Poem became the symbol of the Chicano movement. This poem has been repeated and reprinted in many articles, published in plays and has been quoted in protest literature. Scholars have credited Gonzales with authoring this historicized, politicized definition of what it is to be a "Chicano". (quevivacorky, 2014)Also, during this time he attended the Poor Peoples march held in Washington DC. This march was organized by Rev. Ralph Abernathy of the Sothern Christian Leadership Conference. Mr. Gonzales confronted the U.S Attorney General Ramsey Clark addressing the discrimination against Chicanos with the education and housing opportunities. Mr. Gonzales made headlines this day. One of Mr. Gonzales iconic demonstrations was in 1968 when he led a Chicano commission to the Poor Peoples March on Washington D.C. and issued a “plan of the barrio” which demanded better housing, education and restitution of pueblo lands. (Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez,