Rodolfo Gonzales Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Rodolfo Gonzales

Statistics
Real name	Rodolfo Gonzales
Nickname(s)	Corky
Rated at	Lightweight Super Featherweight Featherweight
Height	5 ft 8 in (174 cm)
Reach	71 in (182 cm)
Nationality	American Mexican
Born	June 18, 1928 Denver, Colorado
Died	April 12, 2005(2005-04-12) (aged 76) Denver, Colorado
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	75
Wins	65
Wins by KO	11
Losses	9
Draws	1

Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales (June 18, 1928 – April 12, 2005) was a Mexican-American boxer, poet, political organizer, and activist.

Early life
Boxing career
Political activism
See also

Early life

Rodolfo Gonzales was born the youngest of Federico and Indalesia Gonzales's eight children in Denver, Colorado in 1928. His father had immigrated to Colorado at an early age from Chihuahua, Mexico. Even as an immigrant, Federico Gonzales taught the histories of Mexico's struggle against Spanish domination and against Porfirio Díaz. Federico Gonzales imparted his knowledge to his son, a struggle that culminated in the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920). Rodolfo’s mother, Indalesia Gonzales, died when Rodolfo was two years old; his father never remarried.

Gonzales and his siblings were raised in Denver's tough "Eastside Barrio", where the Great Depression took an even heavier toll on Mexican Americans. However, according to Gonzales, "though the Depression was devastating to so many, we, as children, were so poor that it was hardly noticed". The Gonzaleses were a very poor family. Gonzales, along with his mother and siblings worked in the fields, and his father worked hard in the coal mines to provide for the family throughout Gonzales's life. Gonzales 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. Since his youth he demonstrated a fiery tendency, which caused his uncle to say that "He was always popping off like a cork. So, we called him Corky." The nickname stuck.

In February 1949, at the age of 21, Gonzales married Geraldine Romero, aged 17/18. They had eight children, who eventually took on their father's legacy of the Crusade for Justice.

Boxing career

Gonzales had a successful professional boxing career and at one time was ranked as a top three Featherweight by Ring Magazine. However, he always lost when competing at the highest level and never received a shot at the title. He retired from the ring in 1955 after compiling a record of 63 wins, 11 losses, and 1 draw. His success in boxing lent him a prominence that he would later capitalize upon during his political career. He was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 1988. When Gonzales turned to politics, he was ranked the 5th best boxer in the world.

Political activism

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.

The movement was born out of the growing awareness of the inequality Mexican-Americans were experiencing in their daily lives within the United States. It became obvious through high school graduation statistics that "school systems have failed the Mexican-American people." More than any other demographic, Chicano students were ending up in labor jobs and prisons, dropping out, and not being given the same opportunities by their faculty/advisors as were white students.

Due to the growing awareness within the Chicano community of the injustices they experienced within all layers of society, many gatherings, organizations and outreach programs participated in the development of the Crusade. The movement was not strictly political in their organizing and education; "it was about art, music, vision, pride, culture, and value of participation," Gonzales explained.

Gonzales believed strongly in the power of educating the people around him, and bringing the Chicano community together to hear one another's voices. He said, “You have to get people involved, and the best way to do that is to live among the people, to hear what they are saying and to agitate them”.

Gonzales’ found a private school in 1971 as a solution to the issues within the public education system. The school would focus on building students' self-esteem through culturally-relevant curricula. It was named after Tlatelolco, a square in Mexico City.

Gonzales became co-founder of a new political party, focused intensively on the rights of Mexican-American people. The party was called Congreso de Aztlán, referring to the land of the Southwest United States. Gonzales believed the only way to meet the goals created by the Crusade within the political world, was through the creation of a third political party. The main goal of the creation of this party was to unite the Mexican-American vote under one banner.The party gained immense support in Texas by 1970, and began spreading the party's reach shortly thereafter. Once it began to spread, there were issues due to a lack of coordination among different groups supporting the party. There were not enough resources to keep the party going, and it died out within the decade.

Gonzales convened the first-ever Chicano Youth Liberation Conference in 1968, which was poorly attended due to timing and weather conditions. He 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. It also birthed the Plan Espiritual de Aztlán, a pro-indigenist manifesto advocating revolutionary Chicano nationalism and self-determination for all Chicanos. The plan called for the mass mobilization of Chicanos under the same identity, the Mestizo Nation. The new identity of Chicanos described them as a free community with their own culture. The Mestizo Nation also stated that Chicano community was free economically and that were together under the political beliefs.

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. He was honored with a Google Doodle in continued celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month in the United States on 30 September 2021.

Rodolfo Gonzales facts for kids

Contents

Early life

Boxing career

Political activism

See also