Black Berets of Albuquerque

January 29^th is the 47th anniversary of the police murders of Rito Canales and Antonio Cordova, two organizers with the Black Berets of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Rito Canales was an ex-convict, and through the Black Berets organization became an outspoken prisoner activist.

Many militant organizations formed from the Chicano Movement. The Brown Berets were formed in Los Angeles in 1967, appealing to many Chicanos with their militant postering and rhetoric. Many other chapters formed around the country. 

An Albuquerque Black Beret, 1971

These organizations were mostly autonomous, and their ideology was a mix of cultural and revolutionary nationalism. 

Albuquerque 1968, at a protest over the killing of Tommy Valles by police. It showed how black berets were worn even before the organization was officially formed, and how police terror was an issue that Chicanos organized around.

Other organizations took up black berets and named themselves as such, in honor of Che Guevara. The Black Berets groups took on a more internationalist approach.

Bobby Garcia Memorial Clinic, Albuquerque N.M.