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The Young Lords: A Radical History
Against the backdrop of America's escalating urban rebellions in the 1960s, an unexpected cohort of New York radicals unleashed a series of urban guerrilla actions against the city's racist policies and contempt for the poor. Their dramatic flair, uncompromising socialist vision for a new society, skillful ability to link local problems to international crises, and uncompromising vision for a new society riveted the media, alarmed New York's political class, and challenged nationwide perceptions of civil rights and black power protest. The group called itself the Young Lords.
Utilizing oral histories, archival records, and an enormous cache of police surveillance files released only after a decade-long Freedom of Information Law request and subsequent court battle, Johanna Fernandez has written the definitive account of the Young Lords, from their roots as a Chicago street gang to their rise and fall as a political organization in New York. Led by poor and working-class Puerto Rican youth, and consciously fashioned after the Black Panther Party, the Young Lords occupied a hospital, blocked traffic with uncollected garbage, took over a church, tested children for lead poisoning, defended prisoners, fought the military police, and fed breakfast to poor children. Their imaginative, irreverent protests and media conscious tactics won reforms, popularized socialism in the United States and exposed U.S. mainland audiences to the country's quiet imperial project in Puerto Rico. Fernandez challenges what we think we know about the sixties. She shows that movement organizers were concerned with finding solutions to problems as pedestrian as garbage collection and the removal of lead paint from tenement walls; gentrification; lack of access to medical care; childcare for working mothers; and the warehousing of people who could not be employed in deindustrialized cities. The Young Lords' politics and preoccupations, especially those concerning the rise of permanent unemployment foretold the end of the American Dream. In riveting style, Fernandez demonstrates how the Young Lords redefined the character of protest, the color of politics, and the cadence of popular urban culture in the age of great dreams.
Utilizing oral histories, archival records, and an enormous cache of police surveillance files released only after a decade-long Freedom of Information Law request and subsequent court battle, Johanna Fernandez has written the definitive account of the Young Lords, from their roots as a Chicago street gang to their rise and fall as a political organization in New York. Led by poor and working-class Puerto Rican youth, and consciously fashioned after the Black Panther Party, the Young Lords occupied a hospital, blocked traffic with uncollected garbage, took over a church, tested children for lead poisoning, defended prisoners, fought the military police, and fed breakfast to poor children. Their imaginative, irreverent protests and media conscious tactics won reforms, popularized socialism in the United States and exposed U.S. mainland audiences to the country's quiet imperial project in Puerto Rico. Fernandez challenges what we think we know about the sixties. She shows that movement organizers were concerned with finding solutions to problems as pedestrian as garbage collection and the removal of lead paint from tenement walls; gentrification; lack of access to medical care; childcare for working mothers; and the warehousing of people who could not be employed in deindustrialized cities. The Young Lords' politics and preoccupations, especially those concerning the rise of permanent unemployment foretold the end of the American Dream. In riveting style, Fernandez demonstrates how the Young Lords redefined the character of protest, the color of politics, and the cadence of popular urban culture in the age of great dreams.
480 pages, Hardcover
First published February 17, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
September 19, 2022
I picked this up because after reading Olga Dies Dreaming, I wanted to learn more about the Young Lords. Really amazing and all-encompassing history. Definitely recommend.
February 23, 2020
Solid study of a Sixties group that hasn't received anything resembling sufficient attention from scholars. Fernandez traces the group's origins (which I hadn't known about) to a Chicago gang, follows it to its early days in East Harlem, and provides an excellent fine-grained history of its most important campaigns: the "Garbage Offensive," the confrontation with a conservative Puerto Rican church over space for a breakfast program modeled on the Black Panhers'; and its dissolution after a re-centering on questions regarding independence on the home island. She does an excellent job with the dialectic between the YLO's focus on issues of immediate concern to the Puerto Rican community and their embrace of a revolutionary ideology similar to the Panthers. I was particularly happy to see the vivid sketches of women in YLO, especially Denise Oliver and Iris Morales (along with Pablo Guzman, Felipe Luciano and the better-known male leaders.)
On occasion the "radical history" vocabulary borders on hagiography, but it's not entirely undeserved and it's totally understandable. The standard work on the Young Lords for the forseeable future.
On occasion the "radical history" vocabulary borders on hagiography, but it's not entirely undeserved and it's totally understandable. The standard work on the Young Lords for the forseeable future.
July 28, 2021
Has got to be one of the best books I’ve read in a long time.
September 15, 2022
a clear-eyed and meticulous epic, which celebrates one of the most important American Left movements of the 60s and 70s without turning into hagiography. Fernandez refuses pat proselytization or rote criticism, insisting instead that all things are far knottier than either the right wing or the left would have you believe. politics are personal—a progressive axiom so banal at this point that even the reactionary right uses it as a cudgel—which Fernandez reassesses here to ask how the personal can undermine the political, and how the political can reaffirm the personal, and any number of variations therein. after all marxists are people, no matter how much they would rather that not be true, and any movement of Marxists is also a movement of people, who do their best while succumbing far too often to their worst. the solution here, Fernandez seems to argue, is a radical democracy which asks much of its comrades without demanding it all, and furthermore does not bog itself down with theory at the expense of genuinely, materially improving the lives of people. elitism will not save us, but neither will action without intention. The Young Lords proved that a movement can balance between these poles, but it is precarious.
June 9, 2020
It's a rare occurrence to read a book at exactly the right moment -- not just "personally;" I'm talking about the right historical moment, as well. Fernandez's book, which chronicles the rise, growth, and ultimate dissolution of the Young Lords -- from alienated street gang, surviving in 1960s urban poverty, seeing the inequities and injustices firsthand while serving as interpreters of language and culture for their migrant parents, to internationally-known agents of change -- is a handbook for today's youth who are trying to make an impact on today's troubled society.
As I write this review, there are an unprecedented number of protest actions happening in all fifty states of this country, as well as internationally, in response to the murder of George Floyd, a Minneapolis man whose death at the hands of police officers was caught on video, and is only the most recent in a long line of such killings of unarmed black men. People have broken their Covid 19 quarantines by the thousands to come out and be counted, and there seems to be an overwhelming sentiment of "Enough is enough."
We're now at that crucial moment, where the talking heads have made their arguments on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and the rest. We've gone out to be counted at our local protest, unapologetically calling out for justice in the streets. Some have expressed their anger and heartbreak in more violent forms, others have seized an opportunity to create mayhem and to steal.
And now comes the aforementioned crucial moment-- the "lull," as it were, that all too often ends in the placative "normalcy" that some folks yearn for -- that "Great" America that was never great for some. Complacency replaces upheaval, the status quo fills the vacuum left once the protestors put away their picket signs.
This is where Fernandez's book comes in. Instead of falling prey to the overwhelming tendency toward political inertia, instead of giving in to the "pendulum theory" of American politics (that which swings too far to the right will swing back to the left again), look at the example of the Young Lords and other revolutionaries like them that Fernandez writes about. Be inspired by their victories. (I did not know, for example, that those vivid PSAs I grew up watching as a New York-area kid in the 70's warning us about lead poisoning -- a baby, about to ingest a paint chip, next to a rusted radiator -- were a direct result of the door-to-door, grassroots efforts of the Young Lords.) Similarly, their actions at the Bronx's Lincoln Hospital led to the creation of a Patient Bill of Rights.
We need to be reminded in this important historical moment that political action can and will lead to change. Fernandez gives us this reminder, in an extremely well-written, readable narrative, that is exhaustively researched. She gives us not only the "victories" I've mentioned, but also provides a cautionary tale of what happens when movements lose their way, sometimes by falling prey to the very ills they're speaking up against, creating hierarchies based on ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation.
When, like so many other well-meaning white liberals, I posted, on Facebook, pictures of myself at our local Black Lives Matter protest, a distant cousin who lives in the UK commented "Dan, is there any hope for your country?"
I responded by saying "There's something about this current movement that feels different and gives me hope."
And I do believe that. I'm also concerned about the "lull" and the very real possibility of falling back into the status quo that leaves so many of my black and brown brothers and sisters on the outside, looking in, and wondering how much their lives really do "matter." As Fernandez says in her Afterword, titled "Coda: Beware of Movements:"
"Social movements and their organizations are not measured temporally but in terms of impact and the extent to which they shift consciousness, public debate, what's accepted, and how we live."
Not only do I encourage all the young leaders emerging in this current struggle to read "The Young Lords: A Radical History," but I do so for any member of the human race who believes we can reach a better, more just and more loving version of our ourselves.
As I write this review, there are an unprecedented number of protest actions happening in all fifty states of this country, as well as internationally, in response to the murder of George Floyd, a Minneapolis man whose death at the hands of police officers was caught on video, and is only the most recent in a long line of such killings of unarmed black men. People have broken their Covid 19 quarantines by the thousands to come out and be counted, and there seems to be an overwhelming sentiment of "Enough is enough."
We're now at that crucial moment, where the talking heads have made their arguments on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and the rest. We've gone out to be counted at our local protest, unapologetically calling out for justice in the streets. Some have expressed their anger and heartbreak in more violent forms, others have seized an opportunity to create mayhem and to steal.
And now comes the aforementioned crucial moment-- the "lull," as it were, that all too often ends in the placative "normalcy" that some folks yearn for -- that "Great" America that was never great for some. Complacency replaces upheaval, the status quo fills the vacuum left once the protestors put away their picket signs.
This is where Fernandez's book comes in. Instead of falling prey to the overwhelming tendency toward political inertia, instead of giving in to the "pendulum theory" of American politics (that which swings too far to the right will swing back to the left again), look at the example of the Young Lords and other revolutionaries like them that Fernandez writes about. Be inspired by their victories. (I did not know, for example, that those vivid PSAs I grew up watching as a New York-area kid in the 70's warning us about lead poisoning -- a baby, about to ingest a paint chip, next to a rusted radiator -- were a direct result of the door-to-door, grassroots efforts of the Young Lords.) Similarly, their actions at the Bronx's Lincoln Hospital led to the creation of a Patient Bill of Rights.
We need to be reminded in this important historical moment that political action can and will lead to change. Fernandez gives us this reminder, in an extremely well-written, readable narrative, that is exhaustively researched. She gives us not only the "victories" I've mentioned, but also provides a cautionary tale of what happens when movements lose their way, sometimes by falling prey to the very ills they're speaking up against, creating hierarchies based on ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation.
When, like so many other well-meaning white liberals, I posted, on Facebook, pictures of myself at our local Black Lives Matter protest, a distant cousin who lives in the UK commented "Dan, is there any hope for your country?"
I responded by saying "There's something about this current movement that feels different and gives me hope."
And I do believe that. I'm also concerned about the "lull" and the very real possibility of falling back into the status quo that leaves so many of my black and brown brothers and sisters on the outside, looking in, and wondering how much their lives really do "matter." As Fernandez says in her Afterword, titled "Coda: Beware of Movements:"
"Social movements and their organizations are not measured temporally but in terms of impact and the extent to which they shift consciousness, public debate, what's accepted, and how we live."
Not only do I encourage all the young leaders emerging in this current struggle to read "The Young Lords: A Radical History," but I do so for any member of the human race who believes we can reach a better, more just and more loving version of our ourselves.
August 13, 2020
The history of the Young Lords is a story of organized, radical, and courageous resistance to colonialism, racialization, capitalist exploitation, and state violence. Johanna Fernandez brilliant depicts the rise and fall of this radical Puerto Rican organization, detailing their close ties to the Black Panther Party and other “New Left” radical orgs, as well as the specific political actions that the Young Lords became known for. The Young Lords epitomized what it means to have “praxis.” To apply socialist theory to everyday life towards the betterment of the collective good. Fernandez does a great job telling both the triumphs of the Young Lords, as well as their missteps. She describes an organization that was disciplined, studious, self-critical, and dynamic, but that also fell victim to government repression (COINTELPRO) and doctrinal and ideological blind-spots. Ultimately, this book does a great job telling a story that not enough people have heard. The Young Lords was a tremendous organization, and they left a template for organizing against state oppression that is highly relevant today.
May 29, 2024
a must read for current-day organizers. and so well-written too. while the young lords imbue us with inspiration to expand our imagination of rights and dignity, we must also recognize the creation of the prison, surveillance, and police industrial complexes that do not allow for present-day reiterations of the tactics employed by the young lords. regardless, the book is a sharp reminder to prevent the pitfalls of dogmatism, non-democratic decision-making, and forced positionality in our organizing.
April 20, 2024
"According to [Denise] Oliver, amid debates and discussion in the women’s caucus, “we looked in our own faces and we could kick ourselves; we had allowed this thing that said, ‘Machismo should be revolutionary, not oppressive.’ … It became patently clear to us that that was the stupidest … thing we had read in our lives, and we had let it slide by. They didn’t mean anything by it; they were trying to be feminist in that statement. But we realized it was not.”They realized that machismo, like racism, couldn’t be reformed. It had to be abolished altogether.
Fernandez has written this book on the back of exhaustive research, including numerous oral histories with Young Lords leaders and deep dives into original archival materials, newspaper articles and other media. The result is a sometimes messy, often riviting, history of the short but eventful trajectory of New York's Young Lords Party.
Fernandez's research does not lead to a dry book. She manages to make the major campaigns - from garbage dumping (she drying captures the reactions of these young activists when they realise that what the community really want is for them to start shovelling rubbish) to health care to free meals and daycare. The boldness of these movements in demanding - and creating working models for - something better in this world can't help but stir the most calloused of hearts. The author's deep love for the YLP, and the Chicago-initiated YLO that spawned it (which does not get the same in-depth treatment, sadly), is palpable not only when she sings of their achievements, but also in her frustration with their failures. There is incisive critique here, as Fernandez is interested in understanding how social forces formed the YLP as well as how they were changed by the party. Fernandez'closeness with the material also means she is unafraid to take sides at times, which probably served to undermine, rather than strengthen, her conclusions with me (quite probably unfairly).
Fernandez covers the various tensions in the party, especially those around race and gender. There is a fascinating glimpse into an organisation officially bound in machismo which provided respectful bodyguarding to queer activist Sylvia Riviera in the wake of Stonewall. In an era of great turbulence, it is the flexibility of the YLP to learn and grow that refreshes. In discussing the racial politics of the YLP, Fernandez highlights how the politics and social positioning of the emigre - especially those who were raised between cultures, often as translators - provoked tensions that underpinned the YLP.
This is an unapologetic leftist history, and those without a working knowledge of concepts like Leninism, Maoism, National Liberation and vanguard parties will get less of it than those who can read the shorthand. But the book has much more plain spoken elements too. A particular highlight is how Fernandez recounts the differing perspectives between the idealistic, consensus based young doctors slumming it, and the disciplined, hierarchiacal cadre of the YLP occupying their hospital.
This volume is full of great stories, amazingly for a narrative that covers just a few years. The strongest impression left is how much can change so quickly, and how we can achieve than we realise in the thick of it. Sometimes it might be the things that don't last that history most needed.
Fernandez has written this book on the back of exhaustive research, including numerous oral histories with Young Lords leaders and deep dives into original archival materials, newspaper articles and other media. The result is a sometimes messy, often riviting, history of the short but eventful trajectory of New York's Young Lords Party.
Fernandez's research does not lead to a dry book. She manages to make the major campaigns - from garbage dumping (she drying captures the reactions of these young activists when they realise that what the community really want is for them to start shovelling rubbish) to health care to free meals and daycare. The boldness of these movements in demanding - and creating working models for - something better in this world can't help but stir the most calloused of hearts. The author's deep love for the YLP, and the Chicago-initiated YLO that spawned it (which does not get the same in-depth treatment, sadly), is palpable not only when she sings of their achievements, but also in her frustration with their failures. There is incisive critique here, as Fernandez is interested in understanding how social forces formed the YLP as well as how they were changed by the party. Fernandez'closeness with the material also means she is unafraid to take sides at times, which probably served to undermine, rather than strengthen, her conclusions with me (quite probably unfairly).
Fernandez covers the various tensions in the party, especially those around race and gender. There is a fascinating glimpse into an organisation officially bound in machismo which provided respectful bodyguarding to queer activist Sylvia Riviera in the wake of Stonewall. In an era of great turbulence, it is the flexibility of the YLP to learn and grow that refreshes. In discussing the racial politics of the YLP, Fernandez highlights how the politics and social positioning of the emigre - especially those who were raised between cultures, often as translators - provoked tensions that underpinned the YLP.
This is an unapologetic leftist history, and those without a working knowledge of concepts like Leninism, Maoism, National Liberation and vanguard parties will get less of it than those who can read the shorthand. But the book has much more plain spoken elements too. A particular highlight is how Fernandez recounts the differing perspectives between the idealistic, consensus based young doctors slumming it, and the disciplined, hierarchiacal cadre of the YLP occupying their hospital.
This volume is full of great stories, amazingly for a narrative that covers just a few years. The strongest impression left is how much can change so quickly, and how we can achieve than we realise in the thick of it. Sometimes it might be the things that don't last that history most needed.
January 8, 2025
I’d heard about the Young Lords here and there—small mentions, brief nods—but this book was my first deep dive into who they were and what they stood for. It’s a well-researched, rhythmically written book that pulls you through their story, even if it can feel repetitive at times.
The Young Lords were fearless, drawing inspiration from the Black Panthers, especially in public health campaigns like lead poisoning reform and their 10-Point Medical Program. Their vision, modeled partly after Cuba, was revolutionary for the time. Their contributions to public health and community activism still feel underappreciated 60 years later.
Johanna Fernández captures the tension between Puerto Rican politics on the island and the struggles of the diaspora in New York and Chicago. The Lords stayed rooted in their culture while confronting U.S. racism and poverty. I appreciated her contrasts between the Lords and the Panthers, showing how different contexts shaped their approaches.
The book also exposes the forces that tore the Lords apart. COINTELPRO’s infiltration was devastating—FBI informants and government surveillance fractured trust within the group. But as Fernández points out, infighting and abuses of power were equally destructive. Internal divisions, fueled by machismo and the misuse of authority, became key catalysts for the party’s collapse.
As a Puerto Rican, this book hit close to home. Fernández challenges the myth that Puerto Rico isn’t racist, unpacking issues like “pelo malo,” colorism, and the denial of Blackness. Chapter 8 was a standout, exploring how darker-skinned Puerto Ricans often distance themselves from Blackness. It’s an uncomfortable but necessary conversation.
Despite its repetition, the book is a powerful reminder of the Lords’ boldness and vision. Their work around healthcare and public policy remains relevant today, offering a blueprint for activism rooted in community and culture. If you’re Puerto Rican, passionate about social justice, or just love a good revolutionary story, this book is for you.
The Young Lords were fearless, drawing inspiration from the Black Panthers, especially in public health campaigns like lead poisoning reform and their 10-Point Medical Program. Their vision, modeled partly after Cuba, was revolutionary for the time. Their contributions to public health and community activism still feel underappreciated 60 years later.
Johanna Fernández captures the tension between Puerto Rican politics on the island and the struggles of the diaspora in New York and Chicago. The Lords stayed rooted in their culture while confronting U.S. racism and poverty. I appreciated her contrasts between the Lords and the Panthers, showing how different contexts shaped their approaches.
The book also exposes the forces that tore the Lords apart. COINTELPRO’s infiltration was devastating—FBI informants and government surveillance fractured trust within the group. But as Fernández points out, infighting and abuses of power were equally destructive. Internal divisions, fueled by machismo and the misuse of authority, became key catalysts for the party’s collapse.
As a Puerto Rican, this book hit close to home. Fernández challenges the myth that Puerto Rico isn’t racist, unpacking issues like “pelo malo,” colorism, and the denial of Blackness. Chapter 8 was a standout, exploring how darker-skinned Puerto Ricans often distance themselves from Blackness. It’s an uncomfortable but necessary conversation.
Despite its repetition, the book is a powerful reminder of the Lords’ boldness and vision. Their work around healthcare and public policy remains relevant today, offering a blueprint for activism rooted in community and culture. If you’re Puerto Rican, passionate about social justice, or just love a good revolutionary story, this book is for you.
February 20, 2022
One of my new favorites
December 9, 2024
In-depth and well-written history of the Young Lords. I found it entertaining and so relevant to public health and social justice movements today.
May 27, 2022
crazy to think most of the young lords were 14-22 years old. an amazing history.
February 5, 2022
Updated for blog post link: https://socialistsaturdaysinsoutherna...
Well, this is a fantastic read.
The amount of hours of research the author put into it is really incredible. Hours and hours of interviews with subjects of the book, hours and hours and hours in prison talking with Mumia Abu-Jamal to get the broader context of the 1960’s actions and the backlash afterward. I wondered how she got into all the details she had, but looking at the acknowledgments and the footnotes, it’s fairly clear she was living and breathing this material for a very long time.
I have already started a blog post about this book, and hope to get it out in the next few weeks. I’ll update this review with a link to my blog post once it is published.
Well, this is a fantastic read.
The amount of hours of research the author put into it is really incredible. Hours and hours of interviews with subjects of the book, hours and hours and hours in prison talking with Mumia Abu-Jamal to get the broader context of the 1960’s actions and the backlash afterward. I wondered how she got into all the details she had, but looking at the acknowledgments and the footnotes, it’s fairly clear she was living and breathing this material for a very long time.
I have already started a blog post about this book, and hope to get it out in the next few weeks. I’ll update this review with a link to my blog post once it is published.
August 22, 2023
Such an extremely thoughtful and detailed account of the YLO. Anyone who wants to understand how and why radical left movements succeed and fail should read this book. Anyone committed to decolonization should read this
book. And anyone committed to the revolution absolutely has to read this book. I spent nearly a year making my way through this book, but I got something new out of it every time I chose to pick it up.
I am though curious after reading to look more into Gloria Fontanez cuz Fernández really portrays her as this manipulative cult leader-like figure and I wonder how much of that can be confirmed and if so what real influence it
had.
book. And anyone committed to the revolution absolutely has to read this book. I spent nearly a year making my way through this book, but I got something new out of it every time I chose to pick it up.
I am though curious after reading to look more into Gloria Fontanez cuz Fernández really portrays her as this manipulative cult leader-like figure and I wonder how much of that can be confirmed and if so what real influence it
had.
January 3, 2021
First off, this is an extremely detailed and researched account of the Young Lords’ rise and fall as a revolutionary organization. In some ways I found some of the detail unnecessary to the overall messaging of the book and struggled to get through certain parts. This is a small negative in a book that provides a clear assessment of where the group was successful and what they could have done differently. This type of assessment is extremely necessary as the U.S. grapples with how to sustain a long-term anti-racist movement. The Young Lords accomplished concrete successes in a short period of time, providing a blueprint for organizers in 2021. Johanna Fernandez’s research is required reading for anyone involved in or curious about local political organizing. Fernandez should be thanked for her years of research and dedication to historical assessment.
April 19, 2024
Simply incredible. The revolutionary aspirations of The Young Lords were, quite broadly, to inspire the political imaginary and empower marginal groups who saw themselves inferior to white people and the ruling class. These pages truly captured the spirit. I found myself laughing , crying, enraged , inspired, motivated, and empowered. Fernandez is also an incredible writer. This reads like a movie and throughout I thought that a television show chronicling the party's history following Fernandez format would be freaking epic. This is a MUST read if you want to learn about this group who's incredible political work has unfortunately been lost to history. Every organizer, particularly those in NYC, NEED to read this.
April 3, 2024
This was my second or third time to read this book and it remains as stunning as ever. Between the Young Lords and FALN, as well as many dozens of other groups, most continental Americans would be shocked to know that many such nationalistic Puerto Rican groups have essentially been at war with the US Federal government for over 120 years or roughly since the US government (and military) fucked PR over along with Cuba, Costa Rica and the Philippines once the Spanish-American War (it with its own spurious portrayal by the US government with the help of mainstream media, most especially the NY Times) was over. Think I'm exaggerating? All of these countries wanted their independence after finally throwing off the Spanish yoke, but ample public and private evidence shows the US basically felt these new American colonies didn't have people sufficiently experienced or intellectually capable of self-rule so America would have to take over. Look at NY Times op-eds from the late 1890s. Many Filipinos didn't care for the American governments' attitude and intentions, so be honest -- how many of us were ever taught in school about the 3-year Philippine-American War of 1899-2002? The one resulting in over 25,000 combatants killed as well as literally hundreds of thousands of Filipino citizens? Right, that one! One of many we're NEVER taught about because such US colonial atrocities must always be covered up. God forbid an American territory should want its independence with the result of their own version of the US Revolutionary War but in those cases, the Americans (i.e., the English government America rebelled against) ruthlessly puts down an action largely like our own in the late 1700s because, well, it's us, not the damn British or Spanish! Right? Don't believe me? This company's website doesn't allow reviews to include any URLs elsewhere so feel free to look at the US State Department's Historian Office's own small entry on the subject.
My point? It may seem like I've gotten off track, but I guess I just wanted to give examples of victims of unspoken, unadmitted yet consistent US foreign policy for over 100 years, and many in Puerto Rico would argue theirs has been the worst case and frankly has never ended. Why would there have been hundreds of nationalist groups like the Young Lords and FALN if significant nationalistic feelings haven't existed, and remain, from the beginning? I spent over 50 years wondering why Puerto Rico always showed up at election time, and there were always mentions of many of its citizens wanting US statehood, yet it would always return to essentially being the unacknowledged, unwanted little American brother, even as newer territories were ushered into statehood. Such as Hawai'i. Oh, Hawai'i was the victim of a US-backed illegal government overthrow in which we kept the longtime queen of an ancient sovereign country and government basically imprisoned in her own home for years while groups of largely western imperialists pillaged the country as it was pulled kicking and screaming at gunpoint into becoming a US state? Don't believe me? Look it up. We're NEVER taught about that in school, right?
But meanwhile, Puerto Rico with over 120 years as a US territory, is forever denied statehood while it has been used for everything from chemical dumping grounds to military weapons testing to human experimenting to insidious torture histories to continuous oppression and on and on. Is it any wonder groups like the Young Lords emerged in America during the '50s and '60s to fight for PR independence? FALN may have gotten greater notoriety during the '70s and '80s because it bombed so many more US targets than any other "radical" groups the FBI was after but it's debatable if it would have even come into its own known existence without the leadership and example of the Young Lords.
I'm ending this review prematurely because I've been typing for so long now, in the middle of the night, and I'm tired, but there's much more to be said about this book and what it represents yet I can't continue at the present. If this topic were to interest anyone, confirmable information can be found and other resources like this book can be purchased to give one a history lesson they perhaps never expected or wanted. Yet as ugly as it is, it's a big part of our history -- something I imagine Howard Zinn might have addressed (or perhaps he did?) in his history classes and books on hidden American history. Sometimes it feels like there's more of that then known, "approved" American history we do actually learn about in school while growing up.
So, strongly recommended, even if some readers won't care for it. I suspect that might be because they won't want to admit to certain geopolitical realities rather than accept certain premises (or realities) too potentially uncomfortable for the government and media to even let the American public know. Finally, I'd hope it's obvious to all that our government has never really deviated from its foreign policy objectives and strategies since then, just by looking back over events of the past 20-30 years. We've learned much from our sins and mistakes, haven't we...?
My point? It may seem like I've gotten off track, but I guess I just wanted to give examples of victims of unspoken, unadmitted yet consistent US foreign policy for over 100 years, and many in Puerto Rico would argue theirs has been the worst case and frankly has never ended. Why would there have been hundreds of nationalist groups like the Young Lords and FALN if significant nationalistic feelings haven't existed, and remain, from the beginning? I spent over 50 years wondering why Puerto Rico always showed up at election time, and there were always mentions of many of its citizens wanting US statehood, yet it would always return to essentially being the unacknowledged, unwanted little American brother, even as newer territories were ushered into statehood. Such as Hawai'i. Oh, Hawai'i was the victim of a US-backed illegal government overthrow in which we kept the longtime queen of an ancient sovereign country and government basically imprisoned in her own home for years while groups of largely western imperialists pillaged the country as it was pulled kicking and screaming at gunpoint into becoming a US state? Don't believe me? Look it up. We're NEVER taught about that in school, right?
But meanwhile, Puerto Rico with over 120 years as a US territory, is forever denied statehood while it has been used for everything from chemical dumping grounds to military weapons testing to human experimenting to insidious torture histories to continuous oppression and on and on. Is it any wonder groups like the Young Lords emerged in America during the '50s and '60s to fight for PR independence? FALN may have gotten greater notoriety during the '70s and '80s because it bombed so many more US targets than any other "radical" groups the FBI was after but it's debatable if it would have even come into its own known existence without the leadership and example of the Young Lords.
I'm ending this review prematurely because I've been typing for so long now, in the middle of the night, and I'm tired, but there's much more to be said about this book and what it represents yet I can't continue at the present. If this topic were to interest anyone, confirmable information can be found and other resources like this book can be purchased to give one a history lesson they perhaps never expected or wanted. Yet as ugly as it is, it's a big part of our history -- something I imagine Howard Zinn might have addressed (or perhaps he did?) in his history classes and books on hidden American history. Sometimes it feels like there's more of that then known, "approved" American history we do actually learn about in school while growing up.
So, strongly recommended, even if some readers won't care for it. I suspect that might be because they won't want to admit to certain geopolitical realities rather than accept certain premises (or realities) too potentially uncomfortable for the government and media to even let the American public know. Finally, I'd hope it's obvious to all that our government has never really deviated from its foreign policy objectives and strategies since then, just by looking back over events of the past 20-30 years. We've learned much from our sins and mistakes, haven't we...?
March 8, 2022
Because I sympathize with the aims and ideology of the YLO, I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. It had a lot of valuable information about how the Young Lords formed and grew into a national political force, and why they flamed out. This is the kind of info I value most in movement histories, because it is the most useful information for modern organizers, who both need to understand how older orgs were able to accomplish what they did, and what missteps to avoid in order to create a more durable organization.
Particularly helpful for me was Fernandez highlighting the probable misstep of focusing organizing efforts on the lumpenproletariat, i.e. folks on the margins of society who may be predisposed to rebelling against authority, but also have many social preconditions that can impede revolutionary progress. I also loved learning the blow-by-blows of the various "offensives," (Garbage, Lead, Church, Hospital). Seeing the autopsy of how those actions were organized and implemented, in addition to their positive impact, was definitely inspiring. Learning about where YLO went wrong, especially their abandonment of the community to pivot to a Puerto Rico campaign, was highly informative for any organizing I might do.
Unfortunately, this useful information was padded by a lot of general pontificating and contextual analysis that was bland and repetitious... stuff that I presume most people who will want to read about the Young Lords will already have quite a solid grasp on. Reading in-depth history of the Puerto Rican independence movement, or the healthcare industry, or the Black Panther origins on the west coast, e.g., were not what I wanted from this book. I know all of that.
I would have preferred a more focused book sticking strictly to what I didn't already know: the rise and fall of the YLO, and why it mattered. IMO Fernandez could have done this in maybe as few as half the number of pages she gave us here. I'm not claiming this as an objective critique, because I recognize that plenty of folks could really enjoy how she connected the YLO to all of these broader issues. For me it just landed in the no-man's-land of more space than I expected to be spent on those topics + not being formulated in a fresh way at all. I do think a valid criticism is to wonder exactly how Fernandez was intending this history to be "radical," as the title suggests, cause the way she want about a lot of it was distinctly conventional.
I also think there's a deeper discussion to be had about the tension between the radical feminism of the YLO, and Gloria Fontanez's portrayal here as the person single-most responsible for the group's demise, (due to some at least mildly gendered criticisms of her attitude and approach).
Overall this is a valuable book that would have benefitted from a tighter focus. I recommend it to folks interested in social movements of the 60s/70s, and organizers looking to inform their own work.
Not Bad Reviews
@pointblaek
Particularly helpful for me was Fernandez highlighting the probable misstep of focusing organizing efforts on the lumpenproletariat, i.e. folks on the margins of society who may be predisposed to rebelling against authority, but also have many social preconditions that can impede revolutionary progress. I also loved learning the blow-by-blows of the various "offensives," (Garbage, Lead, Church, Hospital). Seeing the autopsy of how those actions were organized and implemented, in addition to their positive impact, was definitely inspiring. Learning about where YLO went wrong, especially their abandonment of the community to pivot to a Puerto Rico campaign, was highly informative for any organizing I might do.
Unfortunately, this useful information was padded by a lot of general pontificating and contextual analysis that was bland and repetitious... stuff that I presume most people who will want to read about the Young Lords will already have quite a solid grasp on. Reading in-depth history of the Puerto Rican independence movement, or the healthcare industry, or the Black Panther origins on the west coast, e.g., were not what I wanted from this book. I know all of that.
I would have preferred a more focused book sticking strictly to what I didn't already know: the rise and fall of the YLO, and why it mattered. IMO Fernandez could have done this in maybe as few as half the number of pages she gave us here. I'm not claiming this as an objective critique, because I recognize that plenty of folks could really enjoy how she connected the YLO to all of these broader issues. For me it just landed in the no-man's-land of more space than I expected to be spent on those topics + not being formulated in a fresh way at all. I do think a valid criticism is to wonder exactly how Fernandez was intending this history to be "radical," as the title suggests, cause the way she want about a lot of it was distinctly conventional.
I also think there's a deeper discussion to be had about the tension between the radical feminism of the YLO, and Gloria Fontanez's portrayal here as the person single-most responsible for the group's demise, (due to some at least mildly gendered criticisms of her attitude and approach).
Overall this is a valuable book that would have benefitted from a tighter focus. I recommend it to folks interested in social movements of the 60s/70s, and organizers looking to inform their own work.
Not Bad Reviews
@pointblaek
July 16, 2021
The Young Lords: A Radical History
by Johanna Fernandez
Pub. February 17, 2020
<3 This is an important part of #LATINHISTORY #LATINXHISTORY #BLACKHISTORY American History that needs to come to the big screen. So well done!
#YoungLords #TheBronx #Chicago #PuertoRico #colorism #LincolnHospital #BlankPanthers #Militant #FBI #NYPD #pOLICEbRUTALITY #POLICECORRUPTION #HEALTHCARE #PRISONERABUSE #THETOMBS #JUDICIALSYSTEMS #BLACKANDBROWNFOLKS #POLITICALREDTAPE #VIOLENCE #CHILDCARE #ADDICTION
<3 Eric Aviles you and your lovemuffin need to bring this to the screen/stage! I will cut you a check if I win lotto to fund the project. You have to listen to the audiobook! <3
Against the backdrop of America's escalating urban rebellions in the 1960s, an unexpected cohort of New York radicals unleashed a series of urban guerrilla actions against the city's racist policies and contempt for the poor. Their dramatic flair, uncompromising vision, and skillful ability to link local problems to international crises riveted the media, alarmed New York's political class, and challenged nationwide perceptions of civil rights and black power protest. The group called itself the Young Lords. Utilizing oral histories, archival records, and an enormous cache of police records released only after a decade-long Freedom of Information Law request and subsequent court battle, Johanna Fernández has written the definitive account of the Young Lords. Led predominantly by poor and working-class Puerto Rican youth, and consciously fashioned after the Black Panther Party, the Young Lords confronted race and class inequality and questioned American foreign policy.
Their imaginative, irreverent protests and media conscious tactics won significant reforms and exposed US mainland audiences to the country's quiet imperial project in Puerto Rico. In riveting style, Fernández demonstrates how the Young Lords redefined the character of protest, the color of politics, and the cadence of popular urban culture in the age of great dreams.
by Johanna Fernandez
Pub. February 17, 2020
<3 This is an important part of #LATINHISTORY #LATINXHISTORY #BLACKHISTORY American History that needs to come to the big screen. So well done!
#YoungLords #TheBronx #Chicago #PuertoRico #colorism #LincolnHospital #BlankPanthers #Militant #FBI #NYPD #pOLICEbRUTALITY #POLICECORRUPTION #HEALTHCARE #PRISONERABUSE #THETOMBS #JUDICIALSYSTEMS #BLACKANDBROWNFOLKS #POLITICALREDTAPE #VIOLENCE #CHILDCARE #ADDICTION
<3 Eric Aviles you and your lovemuffin need to bring this to the screen/stage! I will cut you a check if I win lotto to fund the project. You have to listen to the audiobook! <3
Against the backdrop of America's escalating urban rebellions in the 1960s, an unexpected cohort of New York radicals unleashed a series of urban guerrilla actions against the city's racist policies and contempt for the poor. Their dramatic flair, uncompromising vision, and skillful ability to link local problems to international crises riveted the media, alarmed New York's political class, and challenged nationwide perceptions of civil rights and black power protest. The group called itself the Young Lords. Utilizing oral histories, archival records, and an enormous cache of police records released only after a decade-long Freedom of Information Law request and subsequent court battle, Johanna Fernández has written the definitive account of the Young Lords. Led predominantly by poor and working-class Puerto Rican youth, and consciously fashioned after the Black Panther Party, the Young Lords confronted race and class inequality and questioned American foreign policy.
Their imaginative, irreverent protests and media conscious tactics won significant reforms and exposed US mainland audiences to the country's quiet imperial project in Puerto Rico. In riveting style, Fernández demonstrates how the Young Lords redefined the character of protest, the color of politics, and the cadence of popular urban culture in the age of great dreams.
January 6, 2021
The Young Lords: A Radical History, by Johanna Fernandez, dynamically describes the history of the young radical activist group The Young Lords. Fernandez provides the history of the group that started in Chicago, but primarily covers the details of the New York chapter and their political actions and accomplishments.
I sought out this book to find out more about The Young Lords and the facts about their actions in New York. My vague understanding of the group before reading this book was more rumors than fact, and more about violence than social justice. This book provides factual clarification who these people were and what they did. Fernandez’ book describes a collaboration of some young college students in New York that were children of immigrants, young people of color, working within the communities they were born and raised in. The Young Lords members worked and lived in communities that reflected them. The Young Lords saw and worked to educate and address the devastating issues that were affecting the people who were being poisoned, discarded and treated as less than human in the largely Hispanic and African American communities in New York.
Some of the immediate and long lasting effects of the actions by the Young Lords include increased attention to sanitation and led poisoning testing in the East Harlem neighborhood, and what we now know of across the country as the Patients Bill of Rights.
I was also drawn to Fernandez’ book because of her citing and use of primary sources, and creation of a path to even more primary source material from her FOIL fight for the Handschu files from the NYPD, and oral interviews with members of the Young Lords.
This title is for readers and researchers who want to know and understand grassroots organizing, social justice movements, and lasting actions by politically active people of color. This is also for people who want to know more about New York history.
I sought out this book to find out more about The Young Lords and the facts about their actions in New York. My vague understanding of the group before reading this book was more rumors than fact, and more about violence than social justice. This book provides factual clarification who these people were and what they did. Fernandez’ book describes a collaboration of some young college students in New York that were children of immigrants, young people of color, working within the communities they were born and raised in. The Young Lords members worked and lived in communities that reflected them. The Young Lords saw and worked to educate and address the devastating issues that were affecting the people who were being poisoned, discarded and treated as less than human in the largely Hispanic and African American communities in New York.
Some of the immediate and long lasting effects of the actions by the Young Lords include increased attention to sanitation and led poisoning testing in the East Harlem neighborhood, and what we now know of across the country as the Patients Bill of Rights.
I was also drawn to Fernandez’ book because of her citing and use of primary sources, and creation of a path to even more primary source material from her FOIL fight for the Handschu files from the NYPD, and oral interviews with members of the Young Lords.
This title is for readers and researchers who want to know and understand grassroots organizing, social justice movements, and lasting actions by politically active people of color. This is also for people who want to know more about New York history.
June 28, 2021
This book was fascinating reading, partly because I knew so little. My impression from my isolated position in the 60s-70s was only that Young Lords was a gang. So all the actions and projects were news to me. And there were many; the Young Lords addressed issues of garbage collection, hunger, public health, and inadequate medical/hospital availability in neighborhoods.
Especially interesting was how positioning and timing helped the formation. Because the Puerto Rican youth acted as translators for their parents, they got an introduction to how government agencies worked (or didn't).Because government agencies pushed community involvement they learned organizational strategies. Because other organizations like the Black Panthers had already formed,they didn't have to invent the organizational wheel.
The only thing I would change is how Chicago Young Lords were handled. The book started with them as though they were primary, but NYC group became primary. I really wanted to know what happened in Chicago too. I understand that a book has to be selective, but the Chicago story should have been told in a more subordinate way, focusing more on what NY learned from them than their whole beginning (though I valued hearing the Chicago story). Maybe as an appendix?
Especially interesting was how positioning and timing helped the formation. Because the Puerto Rican youth acted as translators for their parents, they got an introduction to how government agencies worked (or didn't).Because government agencies pushed community involvement they learned organizational strategies. Because other organizations like the Black Panthers had already formed,they didn't have to invent the organizational wheel.
The only thing I would change is how Chicago Young Lords were handled. The book started with them as though they were primary, but NYC group became primary. I really wanted to know what happened in Chicago too. I understand that a book has to be selective, but the Chicago story should have been told in a more subordinate way, focusing more on what NY learned from them than their whole beginning (though I valued hearing the Chicago story). Maybe as an appendix?
February 18, 2023
Before this book was published, my only exposure to The Young Lords Party was descriptions of it as "like the latino Black Panthers". After reading this book, I see what a gross generalization this is, and a regrettable underestimation of the unique impact of YLP in the history of American grassroots movements. Also compelling were the interpersonal and philosophical struggles within the organization itself.
My primary critique is that there were many moments in the book where I lost the timeline, and the author often introduces bits of new info whilst repeating previously introduced information (to the point where I sometimes wondered, Is this what I just read, or new information?). It would have been extraordinary if the entire book was as tightly woven as chapter 11 and the Coda.
I also would have liked to have seen more about the relationship between the original Chicago org and the NYC org that came to represent the collective.
4.5 - essential reading but takes perseverance to complete
My primary critique is that there were many moments in the book where I lost the timeline, and the author often introduces bits of new info whilst repeating previously introduced information (to the point where I sometimes wondered, Is this what I just read, or new information?). It would have been extraordinary if the entire book was as tightly woven as chapter 11 and the Coda.
I also would have liked to have seen more about the relationship between the original Chicago org and the NYC org that came to represent the collective.
4.5 - essential reading but takes perseverance to complete
February 17, 2025
This book offers a compelling history of the Young Lords, tracing their transformation from a street gang in Chicago to one of the most influential Marxist-Leninist organizations in the U.S. With a focus on both the Chicago and New York chapters, it highlights their groundbreaking organizing efforts, from free breakfast programs to community health initiatives, while also critically examining their internal struggles and limitations.
The book does an excellent job of exploring the tensions between island-born Puerto Ricans and those raised on the mainland, a divide that shaped ideological debates within the movement. It also sheds light on the challenges the Young Lords faced in sustaining their programs and navigating state repression. Overall, this is an essential read for those interested in radical activism, Puerto Rican history, and the broader landscape of the U.S. left.
The book does an excellent job of exploring the tensions between island-born Puerto Ricans and those raised on the mainland, a divide that shaped ideological debates within the movement. It also sheds light on the challenges the Young Lords faced in sustaining their programs and navigating state repression. Overall, this is an essential read for those interested in radical activism, Puerto Rican history, and the broader landscape of the U.S. left.
March 10, 2021
Actually "read' this as an audiobook, which is not yet an option among the editions. Thorough and highly detailed history of the Young Lords, whose influence of story of NY in general and East Harlem and South Bronx in particular has been considerable. They were appropriately outraged by the conditions in East Harlem and the South Bronx and responded with free breakfast programs, garbage actions, health programs, etc. Good to see (actually hear) the Young Lords get their due as a radical social service and community oriented organization which really tried to challenge the bureaucracy and improve the lives of the marginalized Latinx community, especially Puerto Ricans, in NYC.
June 16, 2025
I’ve always wanted to learn more about the Young Lords, and this book was very detailed about their origin and expansion throughout Chicago, New York, other cities on the east coast as well their attempt to expand within PR over the years. I appreciated learning more about their connection to the Black Panthers and the inspiration drawn from the BP, direct work and organization within smaller communities, how the women challenged machismo within and outside of the group, and discussions among the complexity of race among Puerto Ricans. Would recommend for anyone looking to learn more about the young lords and their contributions to society. 🇵🇷
October 17, 2025
This book is a really impressive history of the Young Lords, specifically the NYC chapter. It is a bit dense in all honesty, but in a way that is very rewarding to the mission of the text. I have been reading a lot about Puerto Rico recently and this felt like a strong connection back to the life of Puerto Ricans living in the United States. A lot of the language and conceptualization of life for Puerto Ricans in the U.S. by the Young Lords really influenced me and my understanding of my role in the diaspora. This is definitely a text I think I will be returning to as I continue to understand and develop my opinions as a Puerto Rican.
June 11, 2021
Awe-inspiring historical account of a radical Puerto Rican organization primarily in NYC in the early 70s, parallel to and inspired by the Black Panther Party, revolutionary unarmed direct action embedded with the community to effect real change for housing, sanitation, medical care, and education. The author brings in so much systemic context to the community's formation and situation along the way, while keeping the attention on the organization's tactics, challenges, and demands.
October 22, 2023
This review is for the audiobook. The content of the text was fantastic. The research was impeccable and the organization made it easy to follow. The narrator was painful. Their Spanish was hard to listen to at times and pronunciation of some words was iffy at best, and downright incorrect at other points.
I will absolutely be using excerpts from this text while teaching. It really is the definitive book on The Yong Lords.
I will absolutely be using excerpts from this text while teaching. It really is the definitive book on The Yong Lords.
February 23, 2024
Oof, hell fucking yah. Not only were the Young Lords cool as hell (and dripped out), Fernández is a really poetic and compelling story teller. Also, just really really motivating.
Plus, puts fun questions in your head like: what is a national identity? What type of discipline is required in political movements? How do you actually put together a group that is able to provide any form of sustained community support and resistance?
Plus, puts fun questions in your head like: what is a national identity? What type of discipline is required in political movements? How do you actually put together a group that is able to provide any form of sustained community support and resistance?
July 2, 2022
Dense, but well written and clearly we'll researched. I knew zero about The Young Lords prior to picking up this book and now I feel not only informed but inspired and amazed by the cleverness and effectiveness with which this short lived group formed, came into power and impact, and fizzled out. But not without leaving an indelible mark on Puerto Rican and Bronx communities.
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