i must fight and win this struggle...
04.12.05 // 10:02 p.m.

Rodolfo
Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales
June 18, 1928 - April 12, 2005

I just got word a few minutes ago that Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales passed away. As La Bloga noted a couple weeks ago, he had decided to leave the hospital and "wait for la muerte."

If you're at all familiar with the Chicano Movement of the 1960s and 1970s or know Chicano literature, you're familiar with Corky's leadership and influence. This loss hurts... it reminds me that the leaders of el Movimiento are getting on in age and won't be around that much longer. Corky's passing also makes me think of the fact that many of the changes he and his peers called for in the 1960s and 1970s have still not occurred.

I was touched the first time I read "Yo soy Joaqu�n" (an excerpt):

I am the masses of my people and
I refuse to be absorbed.
I am Joaqu�n.
The odds are great
But my spirit is strong,
My faith unbreakable,
My blood is pure.
I am Aztec prince and Christian Christ.
I SHALL ENDURE!
I WILL ENDURE!

Gracias por la inspiraci�n. Que descanse en paz. Rest in peace, Corky.

For more information on Corky, check the links below:

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Me siento: sad
Escuchando: news

M�s reciente:
Searches - 09.16.05
the big move - 07.29.05
mother and daughter: a comparative analysis - 07.28.05
jardineros y dom�sticas - 07.27.05
tough question - 07.25.05

antes // despu�s


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