Rodolfo Corky Gonzalez Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Rodolfo Corky Gonzalez - Essay Example Because of financial difficulties, he only completed one term in engineering at the University of Denver (Ingen). After dropping out in college, he pursued a career in boxing which saw him fighting seventy-five times in the featherweight division (Historycolorado.org). After boxing, Rodolfo entered politics, running for Colorado State Representative but he lost. In the mid 1960’s, he founded the Crusade for Justice, an urban civil rights and crusade movement which advocated Chicano nationalism (Democracynow.org). In 1967, he once again ran for political office this time for Mayor of Denver but lost again. In 1968, he led the Poor People’s March to Washington, D.C. which called for better housing, education, business and restitution of pueblo lands in the barrios (Escuela Tlatelolco). Another important contribution of Rodolfo is his creation of the Annual Chicano Youth Liberation Conference, which aims to create greater unity among Chicano youth (Escuela Tlatelolco). Rodolfo died on April 12, 2005 due to heart failure. He is best remembered as a civil rights advocate who fought for injustice, racism and for the rights of the Mexican Americans in the United States. Democracynow.org. "Chicano leader Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales 1929-2005: "He was the fist. He stood for defiance, resistance"." 15 April 2005. democracynow.org. Web. 14 May 2013