The little park has made an outsized imprint on Denver especially when it comes to Chicano culture in the city
isn’t very big as Denver parks go. Occupying one city block between Osage and Navajo streets, it’s easy enough for drivers on West 38th Avenue to zoom by without thinking about the pyramid-shaped kiosko structure at the center of its grassy lawns.
On June 28, 1981, it also became the site of a notorious police use of force against Chicano residents gathered there to celebrate the unofficial opening of the park for summer. Citing a lack of a permit for the gathering, police officers carrying batons moved into the park that afternoon to shut down a gathering of hundreds of people including women and children. The crowd threw rocks and bottles and police responded by using tear gas, according to city research.
With the city owning La Raza Park, Sandoval took her efforts to designate the park directly to Mayor Michael Hancock and worked with the parks department and city landmarks staff on the effort, she said. Artist David Ocelotl Garcia poses in front of his mural “El Viaje” Thursday, April 28, 2022, in the gazebo at Denver’s La Raza Park. Colorado’s Chicano murals will be included on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 11 most endangered historic places list. The initiative intends to raise awareness about cultural and historic aspects of Chicano murals.
Gonzales remembers when the pool there was filled in by the city parks department in 1984, something she viewed as direct retaliation for young Chicanos taking back or “liberating” the park in the ’70s. That liberation involved taking over management of the pool so it would be more welcoming to people of color and making sure the jobs there were filled by people living in the neighborhood, not white people from outside the area.
Joining others on Sunday, Aug. 17 1981, in the La Raza Park pool were Lee Mondragon, 10, and Joe Mondragon, 11.
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