CSU-Pueblo to co-host remembrance of Los Seis de Boulder

PUEBLO –To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the deaths of Los Seis de Boulder (The Boulder Six), a seminal event for the Colorado Chicano Movement, Colorado State University-Pueblo and the Pueblo City-County Library District, along with organizers from Symbols of Resistance, will sponsor a presentation and roundtable discussion entitled, “Pueblo Chicano Activists Remember Los Seis.”  The event will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 28 in the Ryals Room at the Rawlings Library, 100 E. Abriendo Ave.

The event will begin with a Chautauqua-style presentation by Symbols of Resistance, which will give brief biographies of Los Seis, followed by a roundtable discussion with Chicano activists remembering Los Seis, and reflecting on how it informed Colorado Chicano activism over the next 40 years, both in Pueblo and around the state.  Facilitated by Rita Martinez, the discussion will feature Carmen Arteaga, Juan and Deborah Espinosa, Freddie ‘Freak’ Trujillo and Jose Esteban Ortega, some of whom were attending CU-Boulder at the time of the killings.

On May 27, 1974, three activists, two women and one man, were killed in a car bomb at Chautauqua Park in Boulder, Colorado. Two days later, three more Chicano activists were killed in a second car bombing in Boulder. The victims were Chicano activists heavily involved in the protests that were happening at the time: Neva Romero, 21, CU-Boulder student, UMAS (United Mexican American Students) leader, student senator;  Una Jaakola, 24, CU-Boulder student, worked with youth in Denver;  Reyes Martinez, 26, attorney, handled the cases of the poor while working out of his car; Francisco Dougherty, 22, active in teatro (Chicano theater), organized voters in Texas;  Florencio  Granado, 32, former UMAS president, La Raza Unida candidate for CU Regent, published “El Escritor del Pueblo (The Writer of the People)”;  and Heriberto Teran, 24, former UMAS student leader and an accomplished poet and artist. The six who died became known as "Los Seis de Boulder."
          
Hundreds of people participated in the mournful ceremonies which included marches to both bombing sites. Their deaths shocked the state with the news making its way throughout the Southwest, Mexico, and other countries. Mystery surrounds the case to this day, and no group ever claimed responsibility for the bombings. No official explanation was ever provided by police, saying they believed the victims were arming the bombs.  A federal grand jury was convened, but its findings were not made public, and no person was indicted.

An exhibit of materials about Los Seis de Boulder from CSU-Pueblo’s Colorado Chicano Movement Archives will be featured as part of the event. 

For more information about Los Seis, as well as the May 31st commemoration in Denver, visit the Symbols of Resistance website https://siglodelucha.wordpress.com/category/symbols-of-resistance/