Rodolfo corky gonzales biography chicano movement

GONZALES, CORKY (b. 1928)

Corky Gonzales (under banner) speaks at war protest in front of the capitol, Denver, Colorado, 1970.

Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales is best known for his contribution to the Chicano movement.

Born in Denver, Colorado, on June 18, 1928, Gonzales became one the most dynamic and influential leaders of the Mexican American struggle for self-determination and cultural pride in the 1960s and 1970s.

The son of a migrant father from Chihuahua, Mexico, Gonzales grew up in a Denver barrio amid poverty, discrimination, and hard work.

Rodolfo corky gonzales biography chicano movement

His mother died when he was two years old, leaving Gonzales, the youngest child, in the care of his father and seven siblings. Nicknamed "Corky" at a young age by one of his older brothers, Gonzales spent much of his youth working alongside family members in the sugar beet and potato fields of northern and southern Colorado.

Gonzales attended numerous public schools in the Denver area.

In 1944, at age sixteen, he graduated from