Familia
Forty years ago this summer the presence of the Young Lords came into the consciousness of all New Yorkers. What had once been a gang on the streets of Chicago now was present in New York City. The Young Lords, no longer a gang, was now a Puerto Rican Revolutionary Nationalist organization fighting for equality, the Human and Civil Rights of Puerto Ricans as well as the Liberation of Puerto Rico. Within a year, the Young Lords Party’s presence would be felt from Boston to Philadelphia and throughout the Puerto Rican Diaspora. The Young Lords Party is no longer in existence. However, the fact that it once did remains felt and its legacy lives.
On Sunday, August 23rd, at 12 noon, many of those who made up this movement will gather at the First Spanish Methodist Church on 111th St and Lexington in NYC’s El Barrio. This is an invitation to our friends and allies to join us. Those who want to attend, try to get there early as there is limited space.
Vicente “Panama” Alba
panamaalba2@yahoo.com
ylp40.com
From El Pueblo Se Levanta
See, also, “Influential Puerto Rican Activist Group the Young Lords Marks 40th Anniversary” (Democracy Now! 21 August 2009); and Erica González, “The Mujeres of the Young Lords” (ColorLines, July-August 2009).