08/30/2026
Today we honor the life of Ricardo Fálcon on the anniversary of his death. Falcón, born in 1945 in Fort Lupton, Colorado, was an activist and student who was deeply involved in Chicano activism in the 60s and 70s. A student at the University of Denver Law School, Falcón was a member of the United Mexican American Student Organization and the founder of their chapter at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and assisted with rights advocacy for farm workers in Northern Colorado while participating in strikes with the United Farm Workers. A leader in the Colorado Chicano Rights Movement, Falcón was murdered in a racist-fueled hate crime while on his way to attend the La Raza Unida Party convention in El Paso, Texas. His death rippled throughout Chicano communities nationwide, with his murderer being acquitted by an all-white jury, denying him, his family, and the community justice for his death. His death had a deep and profound impression on the future of the Chicano struggle, with thousands attending his memorial services. Every year on the anniversary of his death, many from his community march from his hometown to his burial site in his honor and in commemoration of his death and to celebrate his life.
Visual Description:
At the center of an off-white rectangular paper is a black print. Along the bottom third of the print, a crowd of people in full silhouette marches from left to right, with various tall telephone poles in the distance. At the center, four figures carry a silhouetted casket. The rest of the print features a swirling, undulating background pattern.
Image: Reynaldo Olivares (b. 1947, Mexico City), Chicano Funeral: From the Burial of Ricardo Falcón (Funeral chicano: del entierro de Ricardo Falcón), 1972, linocut / linograbado, N.N. / S.N., National Museum of Mexican Art Permanent Collection, Gift of Mark Rogovin and Michelle Melin-Rogovin
