| From pugilist to revolutionary |
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Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales shadow boxed his way into arenas where the Chicano presence was unwanted. He was not just a champion in the ring; but also a true champion of social justice. His poem, I Am Joaquin, tells the story of the dominant culture submerged in antiquated thinking that would explode during the Chicano Movimiento as the consciousness of the community was raised. His love of community infiltrated many minds, challenging los de abajo to stand up for their rights. His philosophy transformed many gang bangers “lost in worlds of confusion and scorned by attitudes” into contemporary leaders in their communities. “Ya basta” would infiltrate the consciousness of the pachuco and his heirs, el pocho, cholo, and el bato preparing them to engage in social revolution.
Gonzales grew up at a time when Mexicanos and Chicanos were not allowed in the swimming pools until the day before the water was changed. The incipient stereotypes and images of a Mexican American had hit the market. They were referred to as “Meskins” and an assortment of other derogatory names. The image of el bandido, wearing a sombrero, sitting underneath a cactus, taking a siesta, with a bottle of tequila in his hand, fulfilling the stereotype of the insensitive majority population’s image of el Mexicano, had already been created. They were seen as unsavory characters; shifty-eyed rogues whose presence was not worth a plug nickel. New stereotypes were lurking in the forefront. It would be a matter of time before they would emerge in society.
Gonzales’ tocayo and prolific historian, Dr. Rodolfo F. Acuña stated that Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales “gave the pocho an importance that few other leaders have.” By pocho, Acuña was talking about an acculturated Chicana/o who strutted the streets in pachuco attire, bien aguitado, in this case Denver style, viewed by dominant society as loathsome, a stylistic oddball who in reality was suffering the pangs of cultural conflict. They were a mentally unsettled group, lost in two worlds, seeking social acceptance, unwilling to compromise their culture and subsequent loss of humanity. What they lacked was a level of consciousness to liberate their thinking. They were victims of a racist society that had internalized the image of the power brokers who saw them as shiftless commodities, saleable to the highest bidder. From the view of the community they were iconoclasts in search of identity, willing to continue the social struggle of their antepasados.
Corky knew that future historians would continue to write about La Raza without knowledge created of, for and by Chicano communities. He had read Mexican history, picked crops and walked in between the core of contradictions. His push for education was paramount to the Chicano Movement. His speeches were about liberatory education that pushed the envelope, not one that would become a tool for the oppressor to perpetuate the status quo.
He was an astute political analyst who knew how to practice civil disobedience; but also understood the question of historical revolution. His understanding of the power of the written word, the power of the pen to move people, was judicious. Society had no desire to understand the psychology of el Mexicano/Chicano of those times. The time clock would continue to tick and society would fail miserably at explaining those personages, whose spirits, would eventually ascend into the wild wind of the Southwest. The community would have to wait another century to see them revive their spirits while roaming the countryside yearning for acceptance.
What is striking about Acuña’s comment is that it deals specifically with the young Chicano experiencing acculturation and/or assimilation. One of the battles that Corky took up was educating urban youth who had been forgotten. He believed that the essence of the problem was an educational system that was based on Americanization policy. No one had confronted this problem openly. Gonzales intuitively knew this and consciously decided to build a new leadership, informing young people of their human and civil rights and teaching them to have courage to tangle with mainstream institutions. This certainly came to fruition during the Movement. Escuela Tlatelolco is an extension of Gonzales’ philosophy that has withstood the pressures of austere economics and complete acculturation.
Gonzales would gyrate the thinking of families living in town trodden barrios into a positive force, unwilling to fulfill the stereotypes of pliability, clay ornaments suffering from alienation and ready to be baked into sterile objects. As a visionary who had been offered the American dream, he was wise enough to see its contradictory nature and bold enough to stand up against great odds and struggle for social justice. Fomented by a history of oppression, characterized as a “leader of men,” he forsook the dangling of the carrot, to demonstrate that “no human being should be oppressed; and all oppressed human beings have the right to revolution.” He shouted “el grito” a clarion call that had also lurked in the back of the collective unconscious of La Raza, with the fervor of Villa and Zapata; Mexican revolutionaries whose mission was to reclaim the lands lost at the hands of capitalistas and plunderers of the earth.
His vision culminated into the development of a progressive and revolutionary organization that would lead the “charge of the Brown Brigade” for two decades. The Crusade for Justice was the response to years of anguish and suffering that Raza had experienced in this country; it laid the foundation for Chicanismo. El Chicano Movimiento with the Crusade as a vanguard and Corky’s leadership had as its principles, “nationalism, building the nation of Aztlán, la familia, economic independence, self-determination, cultural and historical pride, mestizaje, Chicano unity, liberation, brotherhood or hermandad, self-defense, inclusion of all La Raza, and political independence.”
Gonzales’ activism and fiery spirit made him a target for CONTELPRO, a surveillance organization under the auspices of J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI. As Henry A. J. Ramos in Message to Aztlan: Selected Writings states, “His forceful community advocacy, fiercely militant views, and effective organizing on the issues made him a prime target of the FBI and other U.S. law enforcement agencies. To be sure, Gonzales and his activist followers were viewed by many as a significant threat to established American traditions and values.”
It’s time to honor this hero. The Second Annual Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales Symposium will be held at Metropolitan State College of Denver on Friday, April 4th. Veteranos will have time to reminisce and relive those moments in history when an honorable man stood in front of the community and challenged Brown people to take control of their lives. New upcoming young leaders will be taught the lesson that there have always been heroes in our midst and that we should honor them.
Ramón Del Castillo, Ph.D. is an Independent Journalist.
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