Amidst the Civil Rights Movement of the mid-twentieth century, Chicana/o activists throughout the state advocated for a variety of issues including: educational reform, improved living and working conditions for farmworkers, political representation, an end to racial/ethnic discrimination, and the reinstatement of ancestral land rights; all while encouraging cultural pride of Hispana/o people, language, and history.
While individuals might identify as Hispana/o, Spanish, Hispanic, Chicana/o, or Latina/o; they have deep roots in Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico. The town of San Luis, founded in 1851 by Hispana/o settlers, is the oldest continuously inhabited town in Colorado, and the Spanish street names in downtown Colorado Springs represent the long presence of Hispanic people in the region.
Jackie Jaramillo spent the first five years of her life in the tight knit colonia of Salt Creek, southeast of Pueblo. She was surrounded by loving family, including uncles who played beautiful mariachi music. After her father returned from serving in the Korean Conflict, the family moved to Colorado Springs. As a teenager, Jackie joined the small local anti-Vietnam War movement and spoke at a rally outside the El Paso County Courthouse (this building).
Impressed with her speech, a Colorado College (CC) student encouraged her to learn about the Chicano Movement and handed her La Raza by Stan Steiner. From then on, Jackie worked to create, “…a movement for Latinos in Colorado Springs,” and was a MECHA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlán) leader at CC. In June 1970, she helped organize food and supplies for the “Chicano Rights March” from Pueblo to Denver and served as emcee for the rally of 10,000 people outside the Colorado Capitol.
While Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales was the highly visible leader of El Movimiento in Colorado, and Magdaleno “Leno” Avila was a beloved organizer, women were at the heart of the grassroots activism. During the 1968-1969 Kitayama Carnation Strike in Brighton, Colorado, Guadalupe “Lupe” Briseño, Rachel Sandoval, Martha del Rael, Mary Silas, and Mary Padilla chained themselves to the flower farm gates after 221 days on strike. They were asking for $1.60 an hour (the federal minimum wage) and sanitary working conditions. After Weld County officers cut the chains off and tear-gassed the women, the strike ended.