Research Paper on The Young Lords Party

Introduction

The name of this movement has evolved three times, The Young Lords, The Young Lords Organization and later, The Young Lords Party. Williams (2013) describes the movement as a Puerto Rican leftist group that existed in several cities of the United States. Examples of such cities are New York, Chicago, and Lincoln Park. This movement traces its origin in 1960 in Chicago as a turf gang. The founder was Jose Cha Jimenez, who began the organization as a national civil and human rights movement.

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According to Wanzer-Serrano (2015), the organization was a grass root movement which campaigned for freedom within the boundaries of the United States. The factor that led to its formation was the decision by Mayor Richard J. Daley (William, 2013). The mayor had created an inner city suburb which was in Lincoln Park. This decision led to the displacement of the entire neighborhood of the residents who were Puerto Ricans immigrants. The council pushed them to Wicker Port and Lincoln Park neighborhoods. It was part of the campaign program for Mayor Richard. In this regard, the Young Lords Organization committed offenses that mainly targeted local city officials and the governments. This paper reviewed literature, articles, journals, and blogs

Power of Disruption

To channel their grievances, the Young Lords Party used different means to air out their grievances. Just like the Black Panthers, the movement used direct action, they rejected pacifism, and they also exhibited anti-capitalist character. The movement was known as a youth gang, and they were in most cases accused of gang-related offenses such as drug peddling. Their leaders, therefore, frequented jails as a result of this. For instance, in 1968, Jimenez was arrested in possession of heroin and was sentenced to sixty days at Cook County Jail.

Young Lords Party also aired their grievances through physical and verbal threats. For instance, when they were invited to attend the Department of Urban Renewal Meetings, the movement attended but did not sit down for the meeting. They used verbal and physical threats and managed to take over the meeting. This attack led to the adjournment of the meeting. They campaigned for equal representation of Blacks, Latino, and the Poor Whites.

Rivera, (2016) notes that the movement also participated in disorderly conducts such as littering, loitering and talking on the street corners. They also organized more community actions and programs channeled through demonstrations and protests. These protests advocated welfare rights, the rights of women, rights against police force cruelty and calls for the autonomy of Puerto Rico and Latin Americans.

By 1969, the movement had mobilized the power of disruption by dressing in nationalist uniforms. These were black shirts and white pants. The aim was to march in protest to support the nationalists. They marched carrying Don Pedro Albizu Signs. They also held demonstrations in front of real estate offices and Hospitals. They managed to threaten Augustana Hospital when they demanded that they stop turning away the poor. They were against the brutal killings of innocent lives by the police. These protests enabled them to disrupt the usual programs, and they managed to be heard.

Goals and Program

The significant ideologies of this movement were anti-capitalism, anti-fascism, anti-imperialism, independence, revolutionary socialism and anti-racial segregation. Being anti capitalists meant that they were opposed to the ideas of capitalism. They wished to replace the idea of capitalism with a society that did not use money or another type of economic system. It means that they were pro-capitalists. They were also opposed to fascist ideologies.

In line with this, they, therefore, formulated a 13-point program and platform on which they worked. Initially, the movement had a ten-point plan modeled in line with the Black Panther 10-point program. They fought for the freedom of all subjugated individuals. The New York grouping split from the Chicago group, and they affiliated themselves with the 13-point program (Enck-Wanzer, 2012). These were:

1. Self-determination for Puerto Ricans -this concerned the liberation on the island and inside the United States.
2. Self-determination for all Latinos
3. Liberation for all third world people
4. Revolutionary nationalists and oppose racism
5. Community control of institutions and land
6. True education of Creole culture
7. Opposition to capitalists and alliances with traitors
8. Opposition to American military
9. Freedom for all political prisoners
10. Equality for women
11. Fight anti-communism with international unity
12. Armed self-protection and armed struggle as the only means to liberation
13. A socialist society.

The above program laid down goals spelled out what the movement stood. Enck-Wanzer (2012) asserts that the movement advocated for an end to the rampant unemployment, the public health crisis, lead poisoning among children, poor drainage and sanitation, addiction to drugs, racial segregation, and police brutality among other societal ills. These were the significant goals that they were working towards achieving.

Tactics and Repertoire

The movement used protests, demonstrating and picketing to air out their grievances to the government. In most case, these involved street protests. They organized these protests well, and they carried with them placards with the messages of what they were advocating for (William, 2013). Depending on the situation, in most cases, they were identified with a similar form of clothing, mostly black. These clothes had Puerto Rican flags printed on them. It was to make them understand the culture and nationalism that accompanied the activities of the Young Lord Party. During protests, they chanted songs of liberation while walking across the streets. These in most cases bred conflict with the local administration and police force. It, therefore, resulted in numerous deaths and massacres of innocent lives. Their activism led to the publication of a weekly magazine, "Palante," meaning "fight on." Through this magazine, they managed to articulate issues that they were advocating for (Morales, Knowles, & Bourg, 2014).

The movement also talked about and insisted on the independence of Puerto Rico. They looked up to the role models of the movement who were the leaders of the nationalist party of Puerto Rico. These individuals had actively engaged in armed attacks in Washington. Students were also used to advance protests, and their recruitment through campus clubs. High schools also formed clubs. These clubs mostly consisted of Puerto Rican students. These people came together to advocate for an end to police brutality, injustices among other ills that affected them. The Young Lords also used the churches which were fully functional buildings. Negron-Muntaner (2015) says that these churches were occupied and transformed into rooms for breakfast programs and daycares for young kids. It attracted the interest of the public and as a result, facilitated the empowerment of the movement.

Players and Arenas

According to (Jimenez, 2012), The Young Lords Party's activities advanced by any individual who wished to join the movement. It ranged from qualified professionals such as teachers, lawyers, doctors among other professions. The membership also included both college and high school, students. The players also included the poor and the working class of Puerto Rican predominantly. These individuals led the militants. They were mostly young people who were in most cases the primary English speakers in their families. These players had managed to attend universities in the United States but dropped to join the organization.

The most widely known activity performed by the Young Lords Organization was the dumping of garbage sites as a form of protests. These acted as their arenas to execute their objectives. This situation forced the city councils to collect garbage from the neighborhoods regularly. Other arenas were numerous street protests, secret meetings, high school and campus clubs among others. For instance, in these clubs, the students frequently met to discuss ideas of independence and liberty. They were also avenues to plan for future activities.

Success

This movement managed to achieve some goals and objectives. One of the most significant achievements that Young Lords Organization prides itself is successful anti-lead poisoning (Jimenez, 2012). Because of this campaign, the Journal of Public Health saw this as instrumental in the passing of the anti-lead poisoning legislation. This took place in New York in Early 1970's. They were also among the first activists to challenge the reductions in public expenditure and policies of privatization that was rampant in the public sector. Their efforts drastically improved when they embarked on having one-on-one conversations with the patients and employees in hospitals.

Conclusion

In conclusion, despite the political limitations of the period this movement was active, the campaign managed to achieve a lot of things as part of radicalism. Many political and social trends changed as a result of their activities. The activities of this movement are linked with the Rastafarian movement. This movement also advocated against the social evils that were rampant in South America. The campaigners of Young Lords Party were very effective in achieving the local reforms. Through this, they attempted to extend to other people the true meaning of what democracy is. It is because of this that they managed to put forth a society built on humane priorities. This paper has therefore discussed into details the activities of Young Lords Party. The movement ceased to exist, and their actions are recorded and preserved in archives.

References

Enck-Wanzer, D. (2012). Decolonizing imaginaries: Rethinking "the people" in the Young Lords' church offensive. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 98(1), 1-23.

Jimenez, J. C. C. (2012). The Young Lords, Puerto Rican Liberation, and the Black Freedom Struggle. OAH Magazine of History, 26(1), 61-64.

Morales, M., Knowles, E. C., & Bourg, C. (2014). Diversity, social justice, and the future of libraries. Portal: Libraries and the Academy, 14(3), 439-451.

Negron-Muntaner, F. (2015). The look of sovereignty: Style and politics in the young lords. Centro Journal, 27(1), 4.

Rivera, K. (2016). Presente! The Young Lords in New York. Afterimage, 43(4), 23.Wanzer-Serrano, D. (2015). The New York Young Lords and the struggle for liberation (p. 229). Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.

Williams, J. (2013). From the bullet to the ballot: The Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party and racial coalition politics in Chicago. UNC Press Books.