The Young Lords, who originated as a Chicago street gang fighting
gentrification and unfair evictions in Puerto Rican neighborhoods,
burgeoned into a national political movement in the late 1960s and
early 1970s, with headquarters in New York City and other centers in
Philadelphia, Boston, Los Angeles, and elsewhere in the northeast and
southern California. Part of the original Rainbow Coalition with the
Black Panthers and Young Patriots, the politically radical Puerto
Ricans who constituted the Young Lords instituted programs for
political, social, and cultural change within the communities in
which they operated.
The
Young Lords offers readers the opportunity to learn about this
vibrant organization through their own words and images, collecting
an array of their essays, journalism, photographs, speeches, and
pamphlets. Organized topically and thematically, this volume
highlights the Young Lords' diverse and inventive activism around
issues such as education, health care, gentrification, police
injustice and gender equality, as well as self-determination for
Puerto Rico.
In
recovering these rare written and visual materials, Darrel
Enck-Wanzer has given voice to the lost chorus of the Young Lords,
while providing an indispensable resource for students, scholars,
activists, and others interested in learning about this influential
grassroots "street political" organization.