Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzalez was born in Denver, Colorado, in 1928. He died on April 12, 2005. He wrote “I Am Joaquin.” The poem was published in Spanish and English. This poem showed how a person named Joaquin felt uncomfortable when he lived in the United States because he felt lost and confused in American society. Joaquin was proud of his Mexican roots and his ancestors. Joaquin felt he was part of Mexico’s history. He felt like he lived in the time when the Spaniards conquered Mexico, and when Mexico won its independence. Another example, he felt like he rode with Pancho Villa and fought in the Mexican Revolution. He won and lost battles; he bled, killed, and died. Also, he felt like he was in every woman or man who suffered in these battles. When Benito Juarez was President of Mexico, Joaquin felt like he lived in that time. Joaquin felt like he jumped from the tower of Chapultepec, defending his country’s flag from the American soldiers; the same as Los Niños Heroes (young men who were soldiers) did. He felt like he cried or had fun in every person’s life with their corridos (popular narrative song form) or had lived in the time when Diego Rivera, Siqueiros or Orozco showed their art. Whether he was Mexican, Spanish, Latin, Hispanic or Chicano; he felt, looked, and cried the same. He said “I Am Joaquin.”