Los Seis de Boulder () were six
Chicano
Chicano or Chicana is a chosen identity for many Mexican Americans in the United States. The label ''Chicano'' is sometimes used interchangeably with ''Mexican American'', although the terms have different meanings. While Mexican-American ident ...
activists and students killed in two
car bomb
A car bomb, bus bomb, lorry bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles.
Car bombs can be roughly divided ...
ings in
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Color ...
.
The bombings occurred at the end of May 1974, with the name ''Los Seis de Boulder'' coined posthumously. The students were protesting the negative treatment of Mexican-American students at the
University of Colorado, Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado syst ...
at the time of their death.
Memorials to the bombing victims have been installed on the University of Colorado campus and in
Chautauqua Park.
Involvement of Los Seis in student groups
Los Seis were active in the UMAS (United Mexican American Students) at the
University of Colorado Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado syst ...
. At the time
967-1979 Colorado was one of fewer than 10 U.S. states in which Chicanos (mid-20th century political/cultural term used by some Mexican Americans) were initiating the original
MECha
In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines controlled by people, typically depicted as humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese (language), Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the mean ...
groups. As of 2012, there are over 500 chapters. Although these groups originally concentrated more on education issues, this led to participation in political campaigns and protests against widespread issues such as
police brutality
Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...
and the U.S. war in Southeast Asia. Outside of Colorado, the
Brown Berets
The Brown Berets (Spanish: ''Los Boinas Cafés'') is a pro-Chicano paramilitary organization that emerged during the Chicano Movement in the late 1960s. David Sanchez and Carlos Montes co-founded the group modeled after the Black Panther Par ...
, a Chicano youth group which began in California, took on a more militant and
nationalistic
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
ideology. At the University of Colorado Boulder today, UMAS and MEChA have combined into a single coalition simply referred to as "UMAS y MEXA".
Prior to the car bombings
The
University of Maryland
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
's
Global Terrorism Database
The Global Terrorism Database (GTD) is a database of terrorist incidents from 1970 onward. As of May 2021, the list extended through 2019 recording over 200,000 incidents, although data from 1993 is excluded. The database is maintained by the Na ...
has information on other bombings in Boulder in 1974 suspected to involve the same "Chicano activists," and states that "The explosions came during a time of racial tensions in Colorado, especially in Denver and Boulder, where at least 10 bombings had occurred within the last year, primarily directed at public buildings such as schools, police stations, and courthouses."
In March 1974, two months prior to the deaths of "Los Seis", a Boulder police station was bombed. There were no casualties, though $8,000 worth of damage was caused.
Minutes later on the same day, the courthouse was bombed.
Car bombings
First
In an article written for the
Daily Camera
The ''Daily Camera'' is a newspaper in Boulder, Colorado, United States. It is owned by Prairie Mountain Publishing, a division of Digital First Media.
History
Frederick P. Johnson and Bert Bell founded the weekly ''Boulder Camera'' in 1890, an ...
, librarian and local historian Carol Taylor states that the first bombing took place on May 27, 1974, and
Second
Investigation
Due to the politicized nature of the activists work as members of UMAS and MEChA, focusing on fighting for Mexican American student rights at the University of Colorado Boulder as well as other institutions of higher education throughout the state,
conspiratorial foul play has also been suspected as claimed by some involved in the Chicano community at that time.
The crimes have not yet been solved. The
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
and police found that the students themselves triggered bombs they were making to assault civic buildings and personnel.
The active
COINTELPRO
COINTELPRO ( syllabic abbreviation derived from Counter Intelligence Program; 1956–1971) was a series of covert and illegal projects actively conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) aimed at surveilling, infiltrati ...
program was a major factor in speculation of government involvement.
Priscilla Falcon, professor of Hispanic Studies at the
University of Northern Colorado
The University of Northern Colorado (UNC) is a public university in Greeley, Colorado. The university was founded in 1889 as the State Normal School of Colorado and has a long history in teacher education. The institution has officially changed ...
, said in relation to the deaths of Los Seis “After that, many people became fearful that they could be the next target of the government,” and “So there were peaks and valleys in the movement. If you’re looking at the activism among the student population, I would definitely say that a peak was 1970, with the
Chicano Moratorium
The Chicano Moratorium, formally known as the National Chicano Moratorium Committee Against The Vietnam War, was a movement of Chicano anti-war activists that built a broad-based coalition of Mexican-American groups to organize opposition to the Vi ...
in California, where 3,000 folks came, and after that I think we entered into a repressive period where there was a lot of COINTELPRO stuff going on.”
In art and media
![Los Seis de Boulder Memorial Sculpture](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Los_Seis_de_Boulder_Memorial_Sculpture.jpg)
Documentary films and live performances have featured the subject, including 2014's Symbols of Resistance and a 2017 entirely dedicated to the subject, "Neva Romero: Jamas Olvidados" by director Nicole Esquibel.
On May 31, 2014,
Su Teatro, located in
Denver's Art District on Santa Fe
Denver’s Art District on Santa Fe (ADSF) is a nationally known arts and cultural district, encompassing hundreds of artists, galleries, studios, theaters, and creative businesses along Santa Fe Drive in Denver, Colorado. ADSF is a 501(c)(3), nonp ...
, which on its website claims it "has established a national reputation for homegrown productions that speak to the history and experience of Chicanos.", hosted a 40th anniversary event commemorating the death of Los Seis.
"Los Seis de Boulder," a community-created sculpture designed by CU alumna Jasmine Baetz, was installed on campus in 2019.
Baetz was assisted by three University of Colorado students (Gladys Preciado, Celina Jara Tovar, Lupe Avalos) and Community College of Denver student Ciprie Ramos.
CU students protested a campus decision not to make the art exhibit permanent. On September 16, 2020, CU officials announced that the sculpture would be made permanent as part of its library's Special Collections, Archives and Preservation department. Baetz described the decision as a good first step toward addressing equity issues facing Chicano, Latino and students of color at CU.
References
External links
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{{Chicano and Mexican American topics
1974 deaths
1974 in Colorado
1974 murders in the United States
Activists for Hispanic and Latino American civil rights
American civil rights activists
Deaths by car bomb in the United States
May 1974 events in the United States
People murdered in Colorado
Racially motivated violence against Hispanic and Latino Americans
Unsolved murders in the United States