Biography
Rodolfo 'Corky' Gonzales was a former featherweight boxer from Denver who founded the Crusade for Justice in 1966 and authored the foundational Chicano Movement epic poem 'I Am Joaquín' in 1967. In 1968 he led the Chicano contingent in the Poor People's Campaign in Washington, D.C., and in March 1969 hosted the First National Chicano Youth Liberation Conference in Denver, which adopted 'El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán.' His most prominent arrests came at the August 29, 1970 Chicano Moratorium and a 1971 Los Angeles antiwar rally where he was charged with carrying a loaded firearm. The March 1973 Denver police raid on Crusade for Justice headquarters left organizer Luis 'Junior' Martínez dead.
The Militant, January 29, 1971 reports that Al Gurule was acquitted December 4, 1970 of the firearm charge arising from the August 29 Chicano Moratorium, while the jury divided ten to two for acquittal on Gonzales and a February 4 retrial was planned. At a January 8 Denver defense forum John Haro linked the prosecution to Gonzales and Gurule's Raza Unida organizing and alleged threats against Gurule. The hung jury was not an acquittal or release; the retrial date was prospective. Source: https://www.themilitant.com/1971/3503/MIL3503.pdf#page=9
