Founding Escuela Tlatelolco

Fig. 7. Image of Tlatelolco Plaza. c. 2020. Mexico City. Musement. Accessed Feb. 22, 2023.

Tlatelolco, Mexico

The Inspiration of Escuela Tlatelolco in Denver, CO

Tlatelolco was once a bustling district outside the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán. After the Spanish arrived in 1521, it became the sight of one of the first European-style schools in the Americas.

Tlatelolco also is the place where over 100 students were killed by the Mexican government for protesting against it's anti-democratic tendencies.

All together, Tlatelolco creates a memory of Indigenous heritage, educational excellence, and activism against injustice.

The Freedom School

In 1968, the Crusade would create a Freedom School, a summer camp that celebrated Mexican language and culture. It also taught students how to practice activism and community organizing.

The Freedom School drew inspiration from Southern Black activists. The most influential of these was the Mississippi Freedom School, in 1964. The Crusade's Freedom School shared much of the same core tenets of the Mississippi Freedom School, however, the latter focused specifically on the Black community in Mississippi.

Fig. 8. Image of students and teachers in the Mississippi Freedom School. 1964. Myrtle Glascoe papers (unprocessed), courtesy of the Avery Research Center.

Click the image to see a documentary of the West High Blowout!

Fig. 9. Image of protesters from the West High Blowout. Denver, CO. March, 1969. Colorado Public Radio. Accessed Feb. 18, 2023.

The West High Blowout

In March 1969, students that participated in the Freedom School organized (with the Crusade’s oversight) the West High Blowout, one of the largest school walkouts in the history of Denver Public Schools. There were as many as 1500 parents, students, and other supporters taking to the streets. Many of these students had participated in the Freedom School the summer before.

This protest happened because West High School had a large Mexican American enrollment. Several Mexican students regularly received racist comments from social studies teacher Harry B. Shafer. The protest aimed to fire or transfer Shafer, to add more bilingual courses, and hire more Mexican teachers and administrators.

The Blowout lasted two days, and was widely discussed in Denver media. The Blowout was also an important gauge of the grassroots support for the Crusade, which could be used to build a new response to the poor education Chicane students received in Denver Public Schools.

Escuela in the Early Years

Escuela Tlatelolco was founded in the fall of 1969, and enrolled more than 150 students in its first year. It operated from the Crusade for Justice headquarters on 1567 Downing Street.

The Crusade’s school provided for people at every stage of education. It had preschool, elementary, middle and high school classes. It also offered a Bachelor of the Arts for college students to learn about Chicane issues, and educational practice.

This was all made possible because of donations made to the Crusade. Escuela was organized as a private school, allowing it to avoid the requirements of Denver Public Schools, which these students sought to improve from.

Fig. 10. The Crusade for Justice Headquarters building in Escuela Yearbook. 1973. Courtesy of the Denver Public Library, Western History Collection, [WH1971].

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