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 Fernandez has written the definitive account of the Young Lords, from their roots as a street gang to their rise and fall as a political organization. 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 U.S. mainland audiences to the country's quiet imperial project in Puerto Rico. 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.
Johanna Fernandez is associate professor of history at Baruch College of the City University of New York and editor of Writing on the Wall: Selected Prison Writings of Mumia Abu-Jamal.
"A comprehensive account of the rise and fall of one the most renowned people of color grassroots political organizations of the 1960s in the United States. . . . Readers interested in delving into Latinx studies, Nuyorican studies, critical ethnic studies, and civil rights organizations, as well as questions of immigration and citizenship in the field of American history, would benefit from this book."--small axe "An exhaustive and enlightening study of [the Young Lords'] history [that] makes the case for their influence as profound thinkers as well as highly capable street activists. . . . Fernandez's [book] distinguishes itself by providing solid, incredibly detailed historical research. . . . It also places them in the context of the political and social debates that shaped the era and reveals how so much of their activism centered on the same issues--housing, health, education, and the marginalization of women, the LGBTQ community, and the working poor--that we face today."--The Nation "Like so many other organizations in the United States that were both leftist and radical, the Young Lords' history has been removed from most recollections of the period known as the Sixties until now. Fernandez's work is a bold, brilliant and engaging challenge to this omission."--CounterPunch "Not only scholars and students but also activists would benefit from reading this book, for, aside from the fascinating history itself, one can glean lessons on how to organize from the failures and successes of the Young Lords."--H-Socialisms "Offers readers a genuine, much-needed, eloquent account of hope that framed [the Young Lords'] vision for their community."--New West Indian Guide "The definitive work on this political organization and tells the fascinating story with rich detail and narrative drama."--Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books "The Young Lords Party lasted essentially two years (1969-70) with an active membership of less than 3,000, yet as this book shows, its brief but spectacular history is worth studying and particularly poignant in the time of Black Lives Matter."--CHOICE
