A Passionate Advocate for Chicanos

Armando Cortez would drop in on us, usually to prepare for a meeting with the powers that be in his department, DCFS, or after one of those meetings. Our conversations would cover the department's response to our bone of contention, which asked why are our numbers low within the department while there has been a dramatic demographic increase of the Latino population that it serves. We would especially urge the department to hire bilingual employees. In those meetings, Armando was all Chicano, all the time. He worked in DCFS for about 20 years so he knew it thoroughly.

He served on our board as the treasurer for about three years. When we were finished talking about the politics, he talked about his interest in Latin American music, particularly Cuban music, and Chicano history. Among his coworkers, he was known as a hard worker. Here at the LACCEA, he was known as a passionate advocate for the cause of equality for Chicanos. Armando died February 5, 2000. He was forty-seven years old. We'll miss him.

On the Record

Last year, an article appeared in the San Jose Mercury News about Denver native Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales. He'd visited a bookstore in San Jose for a book-signing. According to the story, at 71, he needed help walking to a microphone and spoke briefly at a gymnasium of the Mexican American Community Services Agency Youth Center in East San Jose. The article suggests that he's only a shadow of the person he was: a featherweight boxer inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame and a militant presence in the Chicano movement in the Sixties.

But his voice lives on in his epic poem, "Yo Soy Joaquín," which he wrote in 1967. The poem is a synthesis of Chicano culture and history. He did not pass judgment on how we defined ourselves but helped us to affirm our identity. "I am Joaquín," he wrote, "I must fight and win this struggle for my sons, and they must know from me who I am." Although now 71, his message hasn't changed. The Mercury News article quotes him as follows: „We are talking about unity, the unity of the family, the first thing we have in our lives....We don't forget the grass-roots people, the vatos on the corner, the farmworkers in the fields, the people who work in factories. We have to unify, and we do that by each one of us being a spokesman."

According to a 1971 essay, Strange Rumblings in Aztlan by Hunter S. Thompson, Gonzales was arrested in L.A. in 1971 during the Chicano Moratorium. Thompson says that then-county Sheriff Peter Pitchess jailed one of the "most prominent Chicano militants in the nation" for a traffic violation that then became a charge of suspicion of robbery. The arrest occurred around the time a deputy sheriff fatally shot LA Times reporter Ruben Salazar with an armor piercing tear-gas projectile while Salazar was in the Silver Dollar Cafe. Two others, Angel Diaz and Lyn Ward, were also killed during the massive anti-Vietnam War rally. At the time of his arrest, Gonzales had $300 in his pocket, which had been raised by supporters for lodging and food. Thompson quotes him as saying, "Anytime a Mexican is found with more than $100 he's charged with a felony." The felony charges were later dropped. Gonzales is scheduled to speak at Chicano Park‚s 30th anniversary on April 22 in San Diego. En fin, Corky Gonzales is part of Chicano history.

Current Events

Wearing a zoot suit and a feather in his brim, legendary Chicano entertainer Lalo Guerrero played at San Fernando High School, which held a benefit concert in January for the future dedication of the Cesar Chavez Auditorium there.