In the pages of the Rocky, Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales was a hero and a villain, one of the founders of the Chicano Movement and a legendary rabble-rouser. He was a larger, more significant figure than any single story ever printed about him.

He was a boxer, a poet, a political activist and a leader.

March 21, 1969, wasn't the first time his name appeared on Page One, after his participation in a protest at Denver West High School. His life was often in the headlines.

"Several hundred West High School students fought with police on the front steps of the school Thursday after walking out of classes in protest over alleged racial slurs by a teacher," the paper reported.

"A television newsman and a student were hospitalized because of injuries during the fight and at least 26 persons were arrested, including Crusade for Justice director Rudolph 'Corky' Gonzales. Gonzales later was released on bond on the simple assault charge." He had slugged a police officer.

" . . . The crowd of students in front of the police building grew to about 100 in the afternoon, their ranks joined by members of the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) from the University of Colorado.

" . . . The crowd chanted 'We Want Corky.' "

Crusade for Justice was Gonzales' creation and was in the forefront of a national struggle for Chicano civil rights.

Days later, Gonzales convened the first Chicano youth conference, attended by many future Chicano activists. The Rocky printed only a 6-inch short advancing the conference and did not cover it. One of the factors may have been the death of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower on March 28, which dominated newspapers for more than a week.

However, significantly, during the conference, the paper devoted nearly two full pages up front to a story headlined:

Economics Is Pertinent

Root of Hispano Problem

The West High incident led to the story. Gonzales was mentioned only briefly in an attempt to bring his role into focus:

"The leadership of Corky Gonzales is oft-debated. Does he represent the feelings of the Hispanos or is he a demagogue?"

Gonzales later wrote the epic Hispanic poem Yo Soy Joaquin (I Am Joaquin) and became a key figure in the national La Raza Unida Party. When he died of organ failure in 2005, he was aptly remembered as "the fist" of the Chicano Movement.

Charisma compounded

Years before, Denver recognized Gonzales' leadership qualities. City officials just weren't sure how to tap them. In 1965, at age 37, he was already director of the Neighborhood Youth Corps when he was also named chairman of Denver's War on Poverty, a struggling program. On Sept. 29, the Rocky profiled him, introducing him with an innocent enough Page One headline:

Corky Gonzales Views Role in Poverty Program

The reporter started the story inside like Gonzales the boxer coming out of his corner in the first round:

" 'I'm an agitator and a trouble-maker. That's my reputation, and that's what I'm going to be. They didn't buy me when they put me in this job.'

" . . . The typical occupant of such a position as chairman of Denver's War on Poverty shuns involvement in picketing and demonstrations like the plague.

"But Gonzales is unabashedly a man of the streets. That's where the people are; that's where the action is; that's where he'll make a good part of his battle."

Seven months later, he was removed as head of the Neighborhood Youth Corps.

Street success

In a sidebar to the interview, Gonzales cited a bizarre example of the effectiveness of Denver's War on Poverty:

"There was this fellow who'd been in the Training Home at Ridge. We tried a number of ways to get him a job, but it looked pretty hopeless - he couldn't read or write. I finally used some muscle and got him a job on a city work gang.

"I met him on the street the other day. He was wearing a new suit like the Beatles. He had a little money in his pocket, and a 6-pack in the icebox at home. We did the job against poverty for him."

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